From  Harrison  to  Harding 


U.  and  U. 


BENJAMIN     HARRISON 


•From       CALJ;" 
Harrison  to  Harding 

A  Personal  Narrative,  Covering 
a  Third  of  a  Century 

1888-1921 


Arthur  Wallace  Dunn 

\  l 
Author  of  "  Gridiron  Nights";  "  How  Presidents  are  Made" 


In  Two  Volumes 

With  Portraits 
* 


+  ±  + 


G.   P.    Putnam's    Sons 

New    York    and     London 

iwtcfeerbocfeer  press 
1922 


T]f 
\y 


Copyright.  1922 

by 
Arthur  Wallace  Dunn 

Made  in  the  United  States  of  America 


PAGE 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

BEGINNING  A  NEW  ERA        .  ~     V       .  ~:      .        .        3 

Second  Century  of  the  Republic — Even  Balance  of  Political 
Parties — Conventions  of  1888 — Harrison  Defeats  Cleveland 
— Tariff  and  Pensions  Issues  in  the  Campaign — New  Ad 
ministration  with  Republicans  in  Control  of  all  Branches 
of  the  Government. 

CHAPTER  II 
THE  FIFTY-FIRST  CONGRESS          .  ,      .  ,    .  ..      .'.       12 

Speaker  Reed  Upsets  the  Precedents  of  One  Hundred  Years  and 
Establishes  a  New  System  of  Parliamentary  Government — 
"Giants  in  Those  Days" — Sharp  Political  Differences — 
Embers  of  Civil  War  Blaze  for  the  Last  Time — Three  Men  on 
the  Political  Horizon  Who  Afterward  Became  Presidents — 
Characteristics  of  Theodore  Roosevelt — The  Contest  for 
Speaker. 

CHAPTER  III 

COUNTING  A  QUORUM   .         .  -       ...         .      23 

Speaker  Reed  Produces  a  Great  Sensation — Riotous  Scenes  in 
the  House  of  Representatives — Bitter  Party  Strife  Over  Con 
tested  Election  Cases — Democrats  Try  Absent  Treatment — 
Majority  Rule  Established— Reed  on  the  "Tyranny  of  the 
Minority." 

CHAPTER  IV 
REED  DEFEATS  FREE  SILVER         .         .         .         .      36 

Saves  Harrison  Necessity  of  a  Veto — Mills  Leads  the  Democrats 
to  a  Barren  Victory — Makeshift  Sherman  Silver  Purchase 
Law  and  Blair's  Humorous  Comment. 


vi  Contents 

CHAPTER  V 

PACK 

TARIFF  ALWAYS  A  POLITICAL  ISSUE       .  .      .        .      44 

McKinley  Law  Followed  by  Republican  Defeat — Elaine  Forces 
Reciprocity  into  the  Bill — Tom  Carter  Fights  for  a  Duty  on 
Lead — Beginning  of  the  Populist  Party  and  the  Ocala 
Platform— Wit  and  Sharp  Words  in  the  Senate. 

CHAPTER  VI 

WESTERN  CONGRESSIONAL  ASSOCIATION          .        .      52 

A  Sectional  Organization  with  a  Brief  Career,  but  a  Hummer 
While  it  Lived — Last  of  its  Kind — Party  Ties  Stronger  than 
Locality— A  Place  for  Stories  of  the  Wonderful  West  in 
Frontier  Days. 

CHAPTER  VII 
FAMOUS  FORCE  BILL  FIGHT  .  .         .         -59 

Last  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction  Measure — Tension  in  the 
Senate — Political  Lines  Sharply  Drawn — Gorman  Leads 
the  Opposition — Why  Edmunds  Left  the  Senate — Return 
of  Elkins  to  Public  Life — An  Attempt  to  Smash  John 
Sherman— Origin  of  the  Term  "Pork"— Uncle  Joe's  Ad 
monition  after  the  Defeat  of  1890. 

CHAPTER  VIII 
LAST  REAL  SPEAKERSHIP  CONTEST         .         .        -77 

Bitter  Fight  for  the  High  Office  in  1891— Crisp  Defeats  Mills— 
First  Appearance  of  William  J.  Bryan — Religion  in  Politics 
— Harrison's  Break  with  His  Party  Leaders — An  Able  Pres 
ident  with  Curt  Manners — Did  Not  Use  Patronage  as  a 
Club. 

CHAPTER  IX 
CAMPAIGN  OF  1892        .         .        .         .        .        .      90 

A  Chief  Executive  Can  Re-nominate  Himself  and  Write  the 
National  Platform — $75,000  in  a  Little  Black  Bag — Last 
of  the  Elaine  Plumes  and  Pompons — Cleveland  Wins,  His 
Followers  Singing  "Four  More  Years  of  Grover "—Harrison 
and  His  Defeat. 


Contents  vii 

CHAPTER  X 

PAGE 

CLEVELAND'S  SECOND  TERM  .        .        .        .104 

Selects  a  Strong  Cabinet— A  Stickler  for  Secrecy — "Bissell 
Talks  "—Reverses  Harrison's  Hawaiian  Policy— The  Un 
popular  Bond  Issue — Thurber  Private  Secretary — John 
Barrett's  First  Appearance — President  Cleveland  Opens  the 
World's  Fair. 

CHAPTER  XI 
REED  DISCOVERS  BRYAN       .         .         .         .         .     115 

Nebraska  Orator  Considered  Worth  While  by  the  Man  from 
Maine — Foresight  of  Reed  Justified  as  Bryan  Develops — 
Repeal  of  the  Silver  Purchase  Law — Long  Filibuster  in  the 
Senate  Fails — Bryan  Leads  Forlorn  Hope  in  the  House — 
Silver  Repeal  Legislation  has  Far-Reaching  Political  Effect. 

CHAPTER  XII 
GREAT  TARIFF  FIGHT  OF  1894      <        .        .        .     125 

Battle  Over  the  Wilson  Bill  in  the  Senate— Champ  Clark's 
Struggle  for  a  Hearing  in  the  House — Protection  Democrats 
Force  Concessions — Secretiveness  of  Vest — Jones  a  Friend 
in  Need — Cal.  Brice — Baiting  Low  Tariff  Men — Final 
Contest  between  Cleveland  and  the  Senate. 

CHAPTER  XIII 
A  YEAR  OF  IMPORTANT  EVENTS    ...       .        ^        .     136 

Besides  the  Tariff  1894  Furnished  Many  Historical  Incidents — 
Senator  Hill  Defeats  Cleveland's  Supreme  Court  Nomina 
tions — Coxey's  Army  Marches  to  Washington — Republican 
Landslide  in  the  Congressional  Elections — Last  of  Many 
Prominent  Democrats — Champ  Clark  Lauds  Bryan. 

CHAPTER  XIV 

SILVER  DEMOCRATS  ORGANIZE       *        \.        «        .     146 

Nation-wide  Plan  to  Capture  the  Convention  of  1896 — Vene 
zuelan  Boundary  Dispute— Hawaii  Troubles  the  Cleveland 


viii  Contents 


PAGE 

Administration — Income  Tax  Decision — Democratic  Divi 
sions  Cause  Republican  Jubilation — Elkins  in  the  Senate — 
A.  P.  A.  in  Evidence — New  Men  in  Senate  and  House. 


CHAPTER  XV 

CLEVELAND'S  WAR  MESSAGE        *.         ..        .         .     156 

President  Ready  for  a  Conflict  with  Great  Britain  Over  the 
Venezuelan  Boundary — Ambassador  Bayard  Censured  by 
the  House  for  a  Speech  in  England — Cleveland  Holds  Con 
gress  in  Session  During  the  Holidays. 

CHAPTER  XVI 
YEAR  OF  PRESIDENT  MAKING      ; .',        .        ^        .     162 

Interest  Centers  in  the  Contest  for  the  Republican  Nomination 
During  the  Preliminary  Campaign — Reed  and  McKinley 
Leading  Candidates — Grosvenor,  the  Mathematician — 
Reed  Resentful  and  Petulant — Republicans  Try  to  Force 
Cleveland  in  Regard  to  Cuba — Senatorial  Story  Tellers — 
Tillman's  First  Speech. 

CHAPTER  XVII 
HANNA  NOMINATES  McKiNLEY     ......         .         .-171 

He  First  Secured  a  Majority  of  the  Republican  National  Com 
mittee,  and  Then  Systematized  the  Election  of  Southern 
Delegates— Who  Framed  the  Gold  Plank?— Bolt  of  Silver 
Republicans  Eagerly  Watched  by  Bryan. 

CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE  MAN  FROM  NEBRASKA  .        .         .        .     182 

William  J.  Bryan,  the  Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte,  Solves  the 
Democratic  Problem— Party  at  Sea  Until  He  Makes  His 
Great  "Cross  of  Gold"  Speech — Tillman's  Determined 
Dominance — Populist  Convention  of  1896  a  Wonderful 
Gathering — Politicians  Force  Bryan's  Nomination  on  the 
New  Party — "Middle  of  the  Road"  Slogan  Fails— Allen  of 
Nebraska  the  Man  of  the  Hour. 


Contents  ix 

CHAPTER  XIX 

•  PAGE 

A  BUSINESS  CAMPAIGN 194 

Unlimited  Funds  Placed  at  the  Disposal  of  the  Republicans — 
Hanna  was  a  Liberal  Spender  and  Lavish  with  Money — 
Special  Trains,  Spell-binders,  Campaign  Clubs,  Features  of 
the  Canvass — Methods  of  Getting  Out  the  Vote — Bryan 
and  His  Whirlwind  Tours  of  the  Country — Cleveland  Ad 
ministration  Favors  McKinley — Personal  Characteristics  of 
the  Clevelands. 

CHAPTER  XX 

A  NEW  ADMINISTRATION        .....     204 

President  McKinley  Selects  a  Cabinet ;  Political  Expediency  and 
Personal  Considerations  Govern — Senators  Were  Going  to 
Give  Mark  Hanna  the  Cold  Shoulder,  but  His  Personality 
and  Power  Overcame  Opposition — Devotion  of  the  President 
to  His  Wife — When  Cortelyou  First  Appeared — Retirement 
of  Prominent  Men  from  Congress. 

CHAPTER  XXI 
EXTRA  SESSION  OF  1897 217 

Fifty-fifth  Congress  Convened  to  Revise  the  Tariff — Republicans 
in  Control — The  Dingley  Bill— Vice  President  Hobart  Re 
ceives  Recognition — An  Interview  with  McKinley  Never 
Heretofore  Published;  the  President  Did  Not  Believe  He 
Was  an  Accident. 

CHAPTER  XXII 
CONFLICT  WITH  SPAIN 229 

War  Forced  upon  an  Unwilling  Administration — Democratic 
Minority  Aided  by  Republican  Insurgents  Overcomes  Con 
servative  Element — McKinley,  Reed,  Hanna  and  Others 
Cannot  Stem  the  Tide — Bryan  an  Influence  for  War — Mis 
takes  and  Blunders  as  Usual — Victory  in  One  Hundred 
Days. 


x  Contents 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

PAGE 

THE  MAN  OF  THE  HOUR 246 

Elihu  Root  Takes  Charge  of  the  War  Department  and  the  Prob 
lems  Growing  Out  of  the  Spanish  War — His  Relations  with 
Generals  Miles  and  Corbin — Makes  Laws  for  the  New 
Possessions. 

CHAPTER  XXIV 
ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  WAR 261 

Most  Active  and  Picturesque  Personage  in  the  Clash  with 
Spain — "  Saddled  on  John  D.  Long  " — Carries  Out  Design  to 
Be  in  First  Fight — Free  with  Advice  to  Superiors — Spanish 
War  Makes  Republican  Success  Possible — Roosevelt  Elected 
Governor  of  New  York — Funston  Kept  in  the  Army — 
Dewey  the  Naval  Hero,  but  the  Presidency  is  Not  for  a  Navy 
Man — How  Leonard  Wood  Became  a  Brigadier-General — 
"A  Bell  that  Rings  Every  Day,"  Made  Another. 

CHAPTER   XXV 
THE  PHILIPPINES  AND  CUBA          .         .         .         .278 

How  President  McKinley  was  Influenced  by  Public  Opinion  to 
Retain  the  Islands — The  Churches  Take  a  Hand — Business 
Interests  Wanted  to  End  the  War— The  Treaty  Ratified  by 
Great  Pressure — Bryan  Takes  an  Important  Part  in  Secur 
ing  Democratic  Votes  for  Ratification — Cuba  Tied  to  the 
United  States  by  the  Platt  Amendment. 

CHAPTER  XXVI 
HAWAII  AND  THE  CANAL 286 

Spanish  War  Annexes  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  Builds  the 
Panama  Canal — Tom  Reed  Unable  to  Stop  Expansion — 
Had  to  Prove  that  the  Majority  Could  Rule — Oregon's  Trip 
Around  South  America  Forces  Canal  Construction — The 
Spanish  War  Makes  the  United  States  a  World  Power — 
Becomes  the  Big  Policeman  of  the  American  Continent — 
Monroe  Doctrine  Enlarged— Colonies  and  a  New  Policy. 


Contents  xi 

CHAPTER  XXVII 

PACK 

THOMAS  B.  REED  RETIRES    .         .         .         .         .     297 

Announces  that  He  Will  Not  B«  a  Candidate  for  Speaker — No 
Longer  in  Harmony  with  His  Party  on  Expansion — Great 
est  Man  of  His  Time — Relations  with  the  President  and 
Senate — A  Pork  Barrel  Incident — Praised  by  a  Political 
Opponent — Speakership  Contest — Cannon's  Defeat  in  Il 
linois  Causes  a  Stampede  to  Henderson — Uncle  Joe's 
Vicious  Comments — John  L.  Wilson's  Farewell. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII 

INTERESTING  EVENTS  IN  CONGRESS        .        .        .    319 

Depew  and  Beveridge  in  the  Senate — Polygamist  from  Utah 
Excluded— Matt  Quay  Loses  Senate  Seat  by  One  Vote- 
Famous  Clark-Daly  Fight  Transferred  to  Washington — 
Montana  Millionaires  in  a  Battle  of  Dollars — Sam  Hauser 
Injects  a  Ray  of  Humor. 

CHAPTER  XXIX 
ROOSEVELT  FOR  VICE  PRESIDENT  .         /        .     328 

Quay's  Desire  for  Revenge  Greatest  Factor  in  Nominating  Rough 
Rider  for  Second  Place  on  the  Ticket  with  McKinley — 
Mark  Hanna  in  a  Rage  Calls  Roosevelt  a  Madman — Anti- 
Imperialism  Becomes  the  Paramount  Issue  at  Bryan's 
Second  Nomination — Campaign  of  1900  without  Incident. 

CHAPTER  XXX 

THE  YOUNGEST  PRESIDENT   .         .        .  .    352 

Theodore  Roosevelt  in  the  White  House  After  McKinley 's  As 
sassination — A  Marked  Change  Apparent — Many  People 
Told  Him  How  to  Run  the  Government — The  Booker  Wash 
ington  Sensation — First  Tilt  with  General  Miles. 

CHAPTER  XXXI 
THE  WHITE  HOUSE  WONDER         ....     368 

Great  Throngs  to  See  Roosevelt — Prince  Henry  has  a  Strenuous 
Time — Tillman's  Invitation  to  Meet  the  Prince  Recalled — 
Philippine  Troubles  and  Friar  Land  Settlement — Linguistic 


xii  Contents 

PAGB 

Acrobatics — President  Stops  the  Coal  Strike — Speaker 
Henderson  Declines  Re-election — Reed  Smoot  and  the 
Senate — Revolution  at  Panama  Necessary  to  Construct  the 
Canal — Ohio  Endorses  Roosevelt  for  a  Second  Term — Miles 
Retires  and  General  Staff  Takes  Possession. 

CHAPTER  XXXII 
THE  MAN  OF  DESTINY          .        .        .         .         .385 

The  President  Calls  an  Extra  Session  to  Speed  the  Work  of  Con 
gress — Cannon  Speaker;  Williams  Minority  Leader — Way 
Cleared  for  Roosevelt — Bitter  Fight  on  General  Wood — 
Politics  in  Congress. 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

CAMPAIGN  OF  1904       .      •-..-:;        .        ^        .     393 

Republican  Convention  According  to  Schedule — Spooner  De 
clines  to  Cast  Half  a  Vote — Warmouth  on  Hanna — 
Would  He  Have  Been  Nominated?— Democratic  Conven 
tion  Nominates  Parker,  but  Bryan  is  Central  Figure — The 
Gold  Telegram — Democrats  Gather  to  Share  Rumored 
Four- Million- Dollar  Campaign  Fund — Republicans  Win  an 
Easy  Victory — Church  Influence — Roosevelt  Announces  He 
Will  Not  Accept  Another  Nomination. 

CHAPTER  XXXIV 

MAN  OF  MANY  ANGLES         .        ...        •        •    406 

Roosevelt  Constantly  in  the  Public  Eye — Finds  Consensus  of 
Opinion  Against  Tariff  Revision — New  States  and  First 
Break  with  Foraker — Class  Distinctions  at  the  White 
House — Race  Suicide — Taft  on  the  Lid — President  Wins 
Peace  Prize— Would  Not  Be  Quoted. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 
PAGE 

BENJAMIN  HARRISON     ....    Frontispiece 

GROVER  CLEVELAND i46 

WILLIAM  MCKINLEY  i72 


From  Harrison  to  Harding 


From  Harrison  to  Harding 

CHAPTER  I 

BEGINNING  A  NEW  ERA 

Second  Century  of  the  Republic — Even  Balance  of  Political  Parties- 
Conventions  of  1888 — Harrison  Defeats  Cleveland— Tariff  and 
Pensions  Issues  in  the  Campaign — New  Administration  with 
Republicans  in  Control  of  all  Branches  of  the  Government. 

•""PHE  defeat  of  Grover  Cleveland  in  1888  and  the 
inauguration  of  Benjamin  Harrison  as  President 
in  1889  brought  about  a  change  in  politics  just  as  the 
American  Republic  was  entering  upon  its  second 
century  under  the  Constitution.  In  April,  1889,  the 
nation  celebrated  the  looth  anniversary  of  the  adoption 
of  the  great  fundamental  law  under  which  thirteen 
small  colonies  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  had  grown  into 
thirty-eight  states  and  ten  territories  occupying  a  great 
part  of  the  North  American  continent. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  era.  Although  the 
nation  had  long  been  at  peace,  the  people  prosperous, 
and  the  country  rapidly  developing,  there  was  the 
first  stirring  of  that  social  unrest  which  has  steadily 
increased.  Almost  imperceptible  changes  were  taking 
place.  Much  began  to  be  heard  of  "advanced  ideas" 

3 


4  From  Harrison  to  Harding 

and  "progressive  thought,"  but  they  were  vague  terms 
and  made  only  a  slight  impression.  The  minds  of  the 
people  were  focused  upon  the  change  of  parties — the 
retirement  of  Cleveland  and  the  induction  of  Harrison. 
They  did  not  then  realize  that  beneath  the  surface  of 
politics  there  were  forces  at  work,  which,  controlling 
whatever  party  might  be  in  power,  would  bring  about 
changes  not  then  deemed  necessary  or  possible. 

The  country  had  long  been  upon  an  even  keel,  pur 
suing  a  course  of  development  unhampered  by  any  of 
the  great  events  which  disturb  nations  and  shake 
thrones.  Reconstruction  as  it  was  known  after  the 
Civil  War  had  been  checked  by  the  Democratic  sweep 
in  the  congressional  elections  of  1874.  The  war  embers 
were  smoldering  and  gradually  dying.  No  nation  had 
threatened  either  our  territory  or  such  commerce  as  we 
then  had.  For  the  most  part  we  had  been  concerned 
wholly  with  our  own  affairs  and  our  people  were  not 
looking  beyond  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  or  Pacific 
for  commercial  activity.  There  was  still  enough  of  the 
Frontier,  of  wild  western  plains  and  forests,  to  appease 
the  land  hungry  and  no  one  talked  of  expansion. 

The  difference  in  party  politics  had  not  been  very 
pronounced,  save  in  regard  to  questions  growing  out  of 
the  war.  Democrats  had  aided  Republicans  in  the 
House  in  defeating  Democratic  tariff  bills.  Republicans 
in  many  western  states  were  not  sure  whether  they 
were  for  a  high  or  a  low  tariff.  The  money  question 
was  not  a  partisan  issue,  men  in  both  parties  being  for 
and  against  the  free  coinage  of  silver. 


Beginning  a  New  Era  5 

The  rather  anomalous  political  condition,  wherein 
neither  party  had  control  in  all  the  departments  of  the 
Government,  had  existed  since  March  4,  1875,  a  period 
of  fourteen  years.  This  was  due  in  the  first  place  to  our 
form  of  government.  It  often  happens  that  the  Senate 
is  controlled  by  one  party  while  the  other  party  is  in 
power  in  the  House.  And  it  has  often  happened  that 
the  President  is  of  one  party  while  the  Senate  or  the 
House  may  be  of  another.  A  landslide  affecting  the 
House  of  Representatives  may  not  cause  many  changes 
in  the  Senate  and,  save  in  a  presidential  year,  has  no 
effect  on  the  President.  A  further  cause  of  the  existing 
condition  was  the  even  balance  between  the  political 
parties.  In  1876,  Hayes  was  declared  elected  by  a 
majority  of  one  in  the  electoral  college,  although  Tilden 
had  a  majority  of  the  popular  vote.  Garfield  had 
a  plurality  of  7,018  votes  in  1880.  Cleveland  had  a 
plurality  of  62,683  in  ^84  and  was  elected  because  he 
carried  New  York  by  the  small  plurality  of  1,143  votes. 
In  1888,  the  same  even  balance  was  maintained. 
Cleveland  had  a  plurality  of  98,017  of  the  popular  vote, 
but  was  defeated  because  Harrison  carried  New  York, 
although  by  less  than  15,000  plurality. 

At  no  time  during  those  fourteen  years  did  either 
Republicans  or  Democrats,  while  holding  the  Presi 
dency,  have  a  majority  in  both  houses  of  Congress. 
During  the  two  years  between  March  4,  1881,  and 
March  3,  1883,  there  was  a  sort  of  nominal  control  by 
the  Republicans  in  the  Senate  through  the  aid  of  in 
dependent  Senators,  but  no  actual  majority  or  control 


6  From  Harrison  to  Harding 

by  the  party  which  was  in  power  in  the  House  and  had 
the  Presidency. 

The  election  of  Harrison  was  a  great  surprise  to  the 
Democrats,  and  more  especially  to  Cleveland.  Cleve 
land  had  every  reason  to  expect  a  re-election  and  the 
existing  political  conditions  at  the  beginning  of  the 
campaign  seemed  to  favor  the  Democrats. 

It  has  generally  been  assumed  that  a  midterm  con 
gressional  election  is  a  pretty  fair  index  of  the  popularity 
of  a  President  and  his  party,  and  shows  whether  or  not 
he  can  be  re-elected.  If  his  party  carries  that  election, 
success  generally  follows  in  the  ensuing  presiden 
tial  contest.  The  election  of  1886  was  all  that  the 
Democrats  could  desire.  The  majority  in  the  House 
was  large  enough,  and  it  rested  with  that  majority  so  to 
shape  its  politics  as  to  continue  the  party  in  power. 

Cleveland  had  no  opposition  in  the  convention  at 
St.  Louis  in  1888.  All  Democrats  united  in  his  support. 
There  was  the  usual  contest  over  the  tariff  plank  in  the 
platform,  but  its  wording  was  immaterial.  The  Mills 
bill  in  the  House  was  the  real  tariff  plank.  This  bill 
was  the  first  Democratic  tariff  measure  that  had  passed 
the  House  of  Representatives  since  the  Civil  War,  and 
it  reduced  duties  all  along  the  line  and  greatly  enlarged 
the  free  list,  particularly  as  to  articles  generally  termed 
raw  materials.  The  convention  was  almost  without  an 
interesting  feature. 

The  Republican  convention  at  Chicago  in  1888  was 
anything  but  a  tame  affair.  The  parties  were  evenly 
enough  balanced  to  make  it  probable  that  the  right 


Beginning  a  New  Era  7 

kind  of  a  man  could  defeat  Cleveland  and  there  was  a 
very  earnest  effort  made  by  several  candidates  to  cap 
ture  the  nomination.  John  Sherman  of  Ohio  was  a 
candidate  for  the  last  time.  Allison  of  Iowa,  Alger  of 
Michigan,  and  Depew  of  New  York  were  aspirants. 
Benjamin  Harrison  of  Indiana  and  Walter  Q.  Gresham, 
formerly  of  the  same  state  but  then  a  circuit  judge 
living  in  Chicago,  were  candidates.  Gresham  was  sup 
ported  by  what  was  then  the  progressive  element  in  the 
Republican  party. 

After  a  long  contest  Harrison  was  nominated.  The 
result  was  brought  about  by  a  combination  of  Repub 
lican  leaders  which  included  Platt  of  New  York,  Quay 
of  Pennsylvania  and  Clarkson  of  Iowa.  These  leaders 
were  able  to  swing  large  blocks  of  delegates  to  Harrison 
at  a  time  when  their  support  was  most  effective.  Al 
though  Harrison  was  in  private  life  at  the  time  of  the 
convention,  he  had  been  in  the  United  States  Senate 
and  had  the  support  of  the  Senators  who  were  in  the 
convention. 

The  campaign  was  fought  on  the  tariff  issue.  Roger 
Q.  Mills  of  Texas,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Ways 
and  Means,  had  forced  his  bill  through  the  House  with 
much  display  of  temper  and  bitter  controversy,  often 
with  Thomas  B.  Reed  of  Maine,  the  minority  leader. 
On  the  tariff  issue  alone  it  is  possible  that  the  Demo 
crats  might  have  won.  But  another  issue,  which 
Cleveland  himself  precipitated,  was  really  responsible 
for  his  defeat. 

From  the  beginning  of  his  term  Cleveland  showed  a 


8  From  Harrison  to  Harding 

hostility  toward  pension  legislation.  In  1886,  he 
vetoed  123  private  pension  bills  out  of  977  passed  by 
Congress.  He  also  vetoed  the  dependent  pension  bill. 
In  1887,  occurred  the  flag  order.  The  War  Department 
ordered  the  return  of  the  Confederate  battle  flags  cap 
tured  during  the  Civil  War.  This  caused  a  great  furor. 
Cleveland  revoked  the  order,  but  on  the  ground  that 
the  return  of  the  flags  required  legislative  action  and 
could  not  be  done  by  executive  order.  Among  the  men 
who  were  fierce  in  the  denunciation  of  the  flag  order 
was  Joseph  B.  Foraker  of  Ohio,  who  at  that  time  earned 
the  nickname  of  "Fire  Alarm  Joe"  on  account  of  the 
language  he  used.  Time  softens  all  things.  Many 
years  after  Foraker  introduced  and  pushed  through 
Congress  the  bill  which  restored  the  flags  to  the 
southern  states. 

The  flag  incident  and  particularly  the  pension  vetoes 
served  to  arouse  animosities  of  the  Civil  War.  The  old 
soldiers  and  their  friends  were  lined  up  for  Harrison, 
who  had  been  a  brigadier  general  on  the  Union  side,  and 
the  result  was  his  election.  And  even  then  it  was  a 
close  election.  New  York,  the  pivotal  and  deciding 
state,  the  Republicans  carried  by  less  than  15,000. 

The  success  of  the  Republicans  was  due  largely  to 
the  political  sagacity  of  Matt  Quay,  the  chairman  of 
the  national  committee,  ably  assisted  by  Tom  Platt, 
who  was  interested  not  only  on  account  of  a  promise 
which  had  been  made  to  him,  but  because  he  wanted 
the  election  of  Levi  P.  Morton,  his  candidate  for  Vice 
President.  It  was  in  this  election  that  Warner  iller, 


Beginning  a  New  Era  9 

who  had  years  before  succeeded  Platt  in  the  Senate 
after  he  resigned  with  Roscoe  Conkling,  was  defeated 
for  Governor  of  New  York.  He  was  consoled  by  a 
dispatch  from  Harrison,  who  spoke  of  him  as  having 
"fallen  outside  the  breastworks,"  a  phrase  often 
used  in  political  literature  in  after  years. 

The  closing  days  of  the  Cleveland  administration 
were  none  the  less  brilliant  because  the  President  had 
been  defeated.  Mrs.  Cleveland  showed  not  the  least 
sign  of  disappointment  at  the  several  White  House 
entertainments  at  which  she  was  hostess.  The  Cabinet 
officers'  wives  kept  up  their  usual  social  activities  and 
the  home  of  Secretary  William  C.  Whitney  continued 
to  be,  as  it  had  been  during  the  entire  administration, 
the  center  of  attraction  for  the  army  of  tuft  hunters 
and  social  free  lunch  patrons  who  haunt  Washington. 
The  raids  on  the  Whitney  tables  by  these  people  were 
an  interesting  feature  of  the  entertainments  during  the 
entire  administration. 

As  the  time  drew  near  for  the  inauguration,  atten 
tion  turned  from  the  Clevelands  to  the  Harrisons,  and 
the  "Jenkinses"  of  that  day  almost  sickened  the  peo 
ple  with  their  voluminous  descriptions  of  the  doings  of 
"Baby  McKee,"  Harrison's  favorite  grandchild. 

Those  who  saw  Harrison  beside  Cleveland  on  the  day 
of  inauguration  noted  the  marked  contrast  between  the 
men.  Harrison  was  undersized,  rather  delicate-looking, 
his  iron-gray  beard  worn  in  such  a  fashion  as  to  give  a 
concave  appearance  to  his  face.  The  man  he  succeeded 
was  big,  strong  and  robust. 


io          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Harrison  began  his  presidential  term  with  the  fatal 
mistake  of  making  James  G.  Elaine  Secretary  of  State. 
Early  in  1889  Elaine  took  occasion  to  pay  a  tribute  to 
the  President.  He  went  out  of  his  way  to  speak  in 
high  terms  of  Harrison  and  assert  that  he  would  be 
President  of  all  the  people.  But  it  was  difficult  to 
make  Elaine  understand  that  it  was  Harrison's  admin 
istration  and  not  Elaine's.  Mrs.  Elaine  also  caused 
some  disagreeable  situations.  She  was  particularly 
insistent  that  Colonel  Coppinger,  a  Elaine  son-in-law, 
should  be  jumped  over  many  other  colonels  and  made  a 
brigadier  general  in  the  army.  This  and  minor  official 
appointments  caused  disagreements  between  the  Harri 
sons  and  the  Blaines.  Mrs.  Elaine  was  one  person 
who  told  the  President  just  what  she  thought  of  his 
treatment  of  his  premier.  She  asserted  that  Harrison 
owed  his  place  to  Elaine's  renunciation  of  the  nomina 
tion  in  1888. 

The  Cabinet  outside  of  Elaine  was  well  balanced, 
but  neither  brilliant  nor  exceptionally  strong,  and  it 
soon  became  apparent  that  Harrison  would  himself 
attend  to  every  important  matter  in  the  government. 
Cabinet  members  could  look  after  details,  but  the  big 
things  were  always  taken  to  the  President. 

Harrison  had  been  pictured  in  the  campaign  as  a 
small  man,  mentally  as  well  as  physically,  one  of  the 
caricatures  showing  him  almost  concealed  under  a 
"grandfather's  hat,"  having  reference  to  the  hairy 
headgear  worn  at  the  time  William  Henry  Harrison 
was  elected  President.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Benjamin 


Beginning  a  New  Era  n 

Harrison  was  a  much  abler  man  than  his  grandfather, 
and  ranks  to-day  as  one  of  the  creditable  Presidents  of 
the  country. 

His  unfortunate  manner  was  his  greatest  drawback; 
besides,  he  seemed  suspicious  of  people,  was  noncom- 
mital  in  conversation,  and  often  assumed  a  superior 
air  which  was  exasperating  to  many  who  came  in 
contact  with  him. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  FIFTY-FIRST  CONGRESS 

Speaker  Reed  Upsets  the  Precedents  of  One  Hundred  Years  and 
Establishes  a  New  System  of  Parliamentary  Government — 
"Giants  in  Those  Days" — Sharp  Political  Differences— Embers 
of  Civil  War  Blaze  for  the  Last  Time — Three  Men  on  the  Po 
litical  Horizon  Who  Afterward  Became  Presidents — Character 
istics  of  Theodore  Roosevelt — The  Contest  for  Speaker. 

TN  1889,  the  Fifty-first  Congress  assembled  and  there 
began  a  revolution  in  the  parliamentary  procedure 
which  wiped  out  past  precedents  and  established  a  code 
that  bids  fair  to  last  as  long  as  there  is  a  Congress  of 
the  United  States. 

"You  are  upsetting  the  precedents  of  a  hundred 
years,"  parliamentary  sages  told  Thomas  B.  Reed, 
when,  as  Speaker  of  the  Fifty-first  Congress,  he  made 
new  rulings  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  parliamentary 
reform  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 

"Yes,  and  I  am  establishing  precedents  for  the  next 
hundred  years,"  was  Reed's  quick  retort. 

It  was  a  great  Congress,  the  Fifty-first.  Its  equal  in 
collective  intellect  and  individual  ability  has  not  since 
come  together.  In  that  Congress  were  men  of  the 
type  developed  in  a  great  crisis.  Years  before  the  Civil 
War  the  sectional  divisions  and  national  perplexities 

12 


The  Fifty-First  Congress  13 

had  developed  a  long  list  of  statesmen  whose  names 
are  a  legacy  to  the  nation.  "  There  were  giants  in  those 
days,"  is  an  old  phrase  frequently  used  in  the  references 
to  men  prominent  in  public  life  before,  during,  and  im 
mediately  after  the  Civil  War.  The  Fifty-first  Congress 
did  not  see  the  last  of  the  "giants,"  but  they  were  a  dis 
appearing  race  of  statesmen.  It  was  the  beginning  of  a 
deterioration  which  while  gradual  has  been  apparent. 
No  group  of  men  has  assembled  since  in  the  national 
legislature  like  that  of  the  Fifty-first  Congress.  The 
issues  and  interests  of  the  nation  have  not  been  such  as 
to  attract  men  of  the  greatest  ability  towards  a  con 
gressional  career.  Nor  have  the  issues  been  such  as  to 
develop  the  high  class  of  statesmen  produced  in  that 
momentous  period  when  the  life  of  the  nation  hung  in 
the  balance. 

When  Congress  met  in  1889,  there  gathered  in  Wash 
ington  men  whose  names  will  live  in  history.  In  the 
Senate  on  the  Republican  side  were  Edmunds  and 
Morrill  of  Vermont,  Sherman  of  Ohio,  Hoar  and  Dawes 
of  Massachusetts,  Hale  and  Frye  of  Maine,  Platt  and 
Hawley  of  Connecticut,  Aldrich  of  Rhode  Island, 
Evarts  of  New  York,  Cullom  of  Illinois,  Allison  of  Iowa, 
Quay  and  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania,  Spooner  of  Wis 
consin,  Jones  and  Stewart  of  Nevada,  Teller  and 
Wolcott  of  Colorado,  Ingalls  and  Plumb  of  Kansas, 
Stanford  of  California,  Davis  of  Minnesota,  Chandler 
and  Blair  of  New  Hampshire,  Manderson  of  Nebraska. 
On  the  Democratic  side  were  Beck  and  Blackburn  of 
Kentucky,  Gorman  of  Maryland,  Gray  of  Delaware, 


14         From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Cockrell  and  Vest  of  Missouri,  Voorhees  and  Turpie  of 
Indiana,  Ransom  and  Vance  of  North  Carolina,  George 
and  Walthall  of  Mississippi,  Harris  and  Bate  of  Ten 
nessee,  Morgan  and  Pugh  of  Alabama,  White  of  Louisi 
ana,  Jones  of  Arkansas,  Coke  and  Reagan  of  Texas. 
All  of  those  men  were  participants  in  or  products  of 
the  Civil  War. 

In  the  House  on  the  Republican  side  were  Reed  and 
Dingley  of  Maine ;  McKinley,  Butterworth,  Grosvenor, 
and  Burton  of  Ohio;  Burrows  and  Cutcheon  of  Michi 
gan;  Cannon,  Rowell,  Henderson,  and  Hitt  of  Illinois; 
Dolliver,  Henderson  and  Conger  of  Iowa;  Sherman  and 
Payne  of  New  York;  Kelley,  Dalzell  and  Bingham  of 
Pennsylvania;  McKenna  of  California;  McComas  of 
Maryland;  Banks,  Lodge  and  Cogswell  of  Massachu 
setts;  Carter  of  Montana;  La  Follette  of  Wisconsin. 
On  the  Democratic  side  were  Carlisle  and  Breckin- 
ridge  of  Kentucky;  Breckinridge  of  Arkansas;  Holman 
and  Bynum  of  Indiana;  Springer  and  Townshend  of 
Illinois;  Sunset  Cox,  Flower,  Fitch  and  Spinola  of  New 
York;  Joe  Wheeler  of  Alabama;  McMillin  and  Richard 
son  of  Tennessee;  Crisp,  Turner  and  Blount  of  Georgia; 
Chipman  of  Michigan ;  John  Allen  of  Mississippi ;  Hatch, 
Stone,  Bland  and  Dockery  of  Missouri;  Outhwait  of 
Ohio;  Randall  of  Pennyslvania;  Mills,  Culberson  and 
Kilgore  of  Texas;  O'Ferrall  of  Virginia;  Wilson  of  West 
Virginia.  Many  of  these  men  and  others  not  quite  so 
prominent  had  served  in  the  Civil  War  with  distinction. 

It  was  a  time  when  the  great  war  was  still  close 
enough  to  be  a  source  of  strife  and  bitterness.  The 


The  Fifty- First  Congress  15 

white  men  of  the  southern  states  had  not  long  regained 
control  of  their  governments.  The  negro  was  not  en 
tirely  eliminated  in  the  elections.  The  shotgun  and 
tissue  ballots  still  played  a  part  in  the  elections  and 
figured  largely  in  the  discussions  of  southern  affairs. 
Negroes  held  seats  in  the  House  of  Representatives  and 
on  several  occasions  during  the  session  of  the  Fifty-first 
Congress  white  men  of  the  South  were  ousted  and  their 
seats  given  to  negroes.  In  the  North  there  still  existed 
a  strong  determination  to  make  the  Fifteenth  Amend-  ^ 
ment  effective  and  it  found  expression  in  the  force  bill. 

The  Republicans  had  come  back  into  power  after 
six  years  of  Democratic  control  in  the  House  and  four 
years  in  the  White  House.  Partisanship  was  bitter 
and  intensified  by  sectionalism.  It  was  the  last  Con 
gress  in  which  the  embers  of  the  Civil  War  were  fanned 
into  fierce  flames.  The  "bloody  shirt"  waved  for  the 
last  time.  During  that  Congress,  South  Dakota,  North 
Dakota,  Montana,  Washington,  Wyoming  and  Idaho, 
were  admitted  as  states  into  the  Federal  Union,  result 
ing,  as  President  Harrison  one  time  remarked  when  sorely 
pestered  by  the  demands  of  men  from  the  new  states, 
in  "the  free  coinage  of  senators."  The  words  "free 
coinage"  were  in  everybody's  mouth  in  those  days. 

It  was  the  Congress  of  the  McKir^ey  tariff ;  the  Sher 
man  anti- trust  law;  the  silver  purchase  law;/the  Reed 
rules;  counting  a  quorum;  of, the  billion  dollars  of  ex- / 
penditures;  of  large  pension  increases;  of  land  l£gisla-   / 
tion  which  resulted  in  the  great  system  of  forest  reserves  ' 
and  the  beginning  of  the  conservation  movement. 


16          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

The  year  1889  was  notable  also  for  the  organization 
of  the  Farmers'  Alliance/into  a  national  body,  as  it  was 
the  beginning  of  the  Populist  party ;  it  was  the  year  of 
the  Johnstown  flood ;  the  first  Pan-Arperican  conference ; 
the  appointment  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  to  a  Federal 
position;  and  other  events  which  have  had  a  great 
influence  upon  subsequent  American  history. 

Insurgency  developed  in  the  Republican  party  during 
the  Fifty-first  Congress.  The  seeds  of  party  revolt 
were  sown  when  the  leaders  under  whip  and  spur  forced 
their  party  associates  to  support  measures  which  were 
obnoxious  to  some  parts  of  the  country,  and  to  cast 
votes  which  made  them  unpopular  at  home.  These 
methods  and  the  legislation  enacted  paved  the  way  for 
the  great  Democratic  sweep  in  1890  and  the  triumph 
ant  election  of  Grover  Cleveland  in  1892,  with  all  its 
train  of  history  making. 

During  the  Fifty-first  Congress  new  ideas  in  politics 
sprang  into  being.  Sharp  lines  of  difference  between 
men  of  different  sections  developed.  The  great  West 
loomed  large  upon  the  horizon  and  became  a  mighty 
factor  in  the  politics  of  the  country.  It  was  a  time  of 
rapid  development.  The  last  Indian  war  was  fought; 
the  large  Indian  reservations  were  reduced  and  the 
famed  Frontier  disappeared,  creating  that  feeling  of 
land  hunger  which  later  developed  into  "expansion." 
It  was  a  period  of  tranquillity  on  the  surface,  but  of 
deep-seated  unrest  underneath  which  has  since  caused 
important  political  and  business  changes  in  the  country. 

It  might  seem  that  in  one  hundred  years  the  people 


The  Fifty-First  Congress  17 

had  learned  the  business  of  self-government,  but  each 
year  brings  new  problems  and  a  series  of  years  produces 
an  era.  For  a  decade  before  the  Fifty-first  Congress 
the  country  had  been  upon  a  dead  level.  Not  even  the 
political  change  in  1885  had  produced  anything  of  great 
importance  to  mark  the  milestones  of  the  years.  The 
year  1889  was  the  beginning  of  an  era.  The  founda 
tions  of  a  political  revolution  were  laid.  The  country 
entered  upon  the  second  century  of  its  existence,  not  to 
follow  the  beaten  pathway  of  previous  years,  but  to 
travel  new  roads,  sail  uncharted  seas,  to  live  and  learn 
from  year  to  year. 

Three  men  became  prominent  at  this  time  who  after 
wards  became  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  William 
1  McKinley,  Theodore  Roosevelt,  and  William  H.  Taft. 
McKinley  was  at  that  time  a  presidential  possibility. 
He  had  received  votes  for  the  nomination  in  the  con 
vention  of  1888.  He  was  a  promising  candidate  for 
Speaker,  and  when  he  failed  he  was  made  Chairman  of 
the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  and  became  leader  of 
the  House.  Roosevelt  was  made  Civil  Service  Com 
missioner  and  Taft  Solicitor  General,  the  second  place 
of  importance  in  the  Department  of  Justice.  Roose 
velt  was  well  known  at  the  time.  Of  Taft  little  was 
known  outside  of  Ohio,  where  he  had  been  a  judge  in 
one  of  the  smaller  courts.  Roosevelt  had  been  a  mem 
ber  of  the  state  legislature,  a  candidate  for  Mayor  of 
New  York  City,  and  a  delegate  to  the  convention  in 
1884  when  he  fought  Elaine's  nomination  vigorously. 
At  one  time  it  was  reported  that  he  had  bolted  Elaine, 

VOL.  I — 2 


i8          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

so  bitter  was  he  against  the  Plumed  Knight,  then  the 
idol  of  his  party,  but  he  reserved  his  bolting  for  a  more 
personal  occasion. 

When  Roosevelt  was  appointed,  a  newspaper  man 
wrote  a  dispatch  in  which  he  discussed  the  new  ap 
pointee.  "For  years,"  he  said,  "the  Civil  Service 
Commission  has  been  considered  a  fifth  wheel  of  the 
governmental  coach.  It  will  be  so  no  longer.  Under 
the  new  appointee  the  Commission  will  take  its  rightful 
position  or  Mr.  Roosevelt  will  revolve  recklessly  in  the 
midst  of  the  machinery." 

And  oh,  how  true  was  that  prophecy!  For  eight 
years  he  was  the  bane  of  two  Presidents  of  different 
parties  and  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  political  bosses. 
He  was  abused  equally  by  men  on  both  sides.  He  had 
bitter  quarrels  with  Allison  and  Gorman,  the  leaders  of 
the  two  parties  in  the  Senate.  Roosevelt  was  fierce  in 
the  pursuit  of  violators  of  the  civil  service  law  whether 
they  were  Republicans  or  Democrats.  Harrison  and 
Cleveland  wanted  to  get  rid  of  him,  but  neither  would  re 
move  him.  To  dismiss  a  man  like  Roosevelt  because  he 
was  too  vigorous  in  enforcing  the  law  would  have  caused 
an  uproar  among  the  friends  of  civil  service  reform. 

It  was  while  Roosevelt  was  Civil  Service  Commissioner 
that  he  was  bitterly  assailed  by  Frank  Hatton  in  the 
Washington  Post.  Hatton  was  keen  and  humorous  in 
his  attacks,  and  never  before  or  afterward  did  Roosevelt 
suffer  so  much  at  the  hands  of  a  newspaper.  One  day 
a  friend  found  him  pacing  up  and  down  in  front  of  the 
Post  Building  with  every  appearance  of  rage  in  his  face. 


The  Fifty-First  Congress  19 

That  morning  there  had  been  a  particularly  exaspera 
ting  editorial  in  the  Post  and  Roosevelt's  friend  immedi 
ately  suspected  something. 

"What  are  you  doing  here?"  he  asked. 

"I  am  looking  for  a !" 

The  Civil  Service  Commissioner  had  broken  out  into 
cowboy  invective  that  he  had  learned  in  the  West. 

"And  I  am  going  to  punch  his  head!"  he  added 
fiercely. 

The  friend  coaxed  him  away  and  no  doubt  spoiled 
what  might  have  been  in  Roosevelt's  own  words,  "a 
bully  fight,"  for  Frank  Hatton  was  a  game  man. 

In  many  particulars  Theodore  Roosevelt  did  not 
change  in  all  the  years.  I  met  him  for  the  first  time 
soon  after  he  became  Civil  Service  Commissioner.  He 
was  in  one  of  the  dingy  little  rooms  then  occupied  by 
the  Commission.  Sitting  at  a  desk  he  stared  at  me 
through  large  tortoise-shell  rimmed  glasses. 

"Well,  sir,  what  can  I  do  for  you? "  he  asked,  with  his 
usual  abruptness. 

"Oh,  nothing  much,"  I  replied.    "I'm  from  Dakota." 

"You  are!"  he  shouted.  "Come  in!  Sit  down! 
Put  your  feet  on  the  table!" 

And  then  we  had  a  long  gabfest  about  the  big  terri 
tory  soon  to  become  two  states. 

A  few  months  later  I  wrote  a  little  story  about  Roose 
velt,  for  he  was  always  good  for  a  story,  and  quoted 
him  as  to  his  ambitions  and  aspirations.  "If  I  have  a 
career,"  he  said  at  that  time,  "it  will  be  in  literature 
rather  than  in  politics." 


20          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Many  years  later,  when  he  was  President  and  the 
greatest  political  boss  the  country  ever  had  known  up 
to  that  time,  I  showed  him  that  little  interview.  He 
was  very  much  amused. 

In  that  same  story  I  told  how  Roosevelt,  although  a 
Civil  Service  Commissioner,  continued  to  take  an  in 
terest  in  politics  and  was  at  that  time  earnestly  sup 
porting  Tom  Reed  for  Speaker,  and  quoted  Roosevelt  as 
saying: 

"  When  I  told  McKinley  I  was  for  Reed  I  said  to  the 
major  that  I  thought  he  would  not  advance  his  pros 
pects  for  the  future  as  Speaker;  and  I  assured  him  that 
I  hoped  some  time  to  vote  for  him  as  President. " 

He  little  imagined  then  that  the  second  time  he 
voted  for  McKinley  for  President  he  would  also  vote 
for  himself  for  Vice-President. 

The  fight  for  Speaker  in  the  Fifty-first  Congress  was  a 
real  contest,  and  the  last,  with  one  exception,  that  took 
place  in  thirty  years.  It  began  in  1888  when  it  was 
known  that  the  Republicans  had  carried  the  House  and 
continued  until  two  days  before  Congress  met  in  De 
cember,  1889,  and  was  settled  on  the  second  ballot. 
There  were  five  candidates,  Thomas  B.  Reed  of  Maine, 
William  McKinley  of  Ohio,  Joseph  G.  Cannon  of  Illi 
nois,  Julius  C.  Burrows  of  Michigan,  and  David  B. 
Henderson  of  Iowa.  There  was  no  trading  or  bargain 
ing  about  committee  places  during  the  contest,  but 
simply  a  matter  of  preference  on  the  part  of  members 
of  the  Republican  party.  When  Reed  was  elected,  he 
named  McKinley  and  Cannon  as  chairmen  of  two  of 


The  Fifty-First  Congress          21 

the  most  important  committees  and  Burrows  and 
Henderson  became  their  lieutenants. 

The  contest  for  the  Speakership  was  a  leature  of  the 
short  session  of  the  Fiftieth  Congress  in  the  winter  of 
1888  and  1889,  when  most  of  the  old  members  were 
pledged  to  one  or  another  of  the  five  aspirants.  Pledges 
were  also  obtained  from  new  members  who  visited 
Washington  during  the  winter. 

Then  a  new  element  entered  into  the  contest.  In  that 
short  session  of  the  Fiftieth  Congress  a  bill  was  passed 
which  provided  for  the  admission  of  four  territories  as 
states  with  five  additional  members  of  the  House. 
The  Republicans  had  only  three  majority  in  the  newly 
elected  House  (the  Fifty-first  Congress)  and  there  was 
a  possibility  that  the  political  situation  might  be  re 
versed  by  the  election  of  five  additional  members.  The 
Democrats  hoped  that  the  new  states,  grateful  for  ad 
mission  by  a  Democratic  House  and  a  Democratic 
President  (as  the  admission  bill  had  been  passed  by  a 
Democratic  House  and  signed  by  Cleveland  as  Presi 
dent),  would  go  Democratic  and  give  them  control  in 
the  Fifty-first  Congress.  Two  of  the  territories  at  that 
time  were  represented  by  Democrats  as  Delegates  and 
party  lines  had  never  been  drawn  very  tight  in  Dakota. 
But  the  Democrats  were  doomed  to  disappointment. 
At  the  election  in  November,  1889,  in  the  four  new 
states  five  Republicans  were  elected  and  these  five 
finally  determined  the  Speakership  contest.  They 
voted  for  Reed  on  the  second  ballot  and  secured  his 
nomination. 


22          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Roosevelt,  the  man  whose  personality  and  public 
career  flashes  upon  the  screen  frequently  during  thirty 
active  years,  was  a  factor  in  the  fight.  During  the 
late  summer  of  1889  he  made  a  trip  over  his  old  stamp 
ing  ground.  He  made  it  a  hunting  trip,  but  he  also 
did  what  he  could  for  Reed.  When  members  of  the 
House  began  to  arrive  in  Washington  in  the  Fall  of 
1889,  Roosevelt  established  headquarters  in  a  little 
back  room  in  the  old  Wormley  hotel.  Here  he  and  a  few 
others  worked  for  Reed.  In  after  years  he  frequently 
referred  to  himself  and  two  of  his  associates  as  "the 
three  conspirators  who  elected  Tom  Reed  Speaker." 
Frank  Pettigrew  of  South  Dakota  and  I  were  the  other 
two  members  of  this  "trio."  We  had  a  wide  acquaint 
ance  throughout  the  Northwest.  Pettigrew  had  been 
the  Delegate  from  Dakota  territory.  Our  part  in  the 
campaign  was  to  "round  up,"  as  Roosevelt  said,  the 
men  from  the  new  states.  For  personal  reasons  one 
voted  for  Cannon,  one  for  Henderson,  and  two  for 
McKinley  on  the  first  ballot,  but  they  went  to  Reed  on 
the  second  and  nominated  him. 

The  five  candidates  for  Speaker  of  the  Fifty-first 
Congress  were  distinguished  in  after  years.  Reed  was  a 
minority  leader  for  two  terms  and  then  twice  elected 
Speaker.  McKinley  was  Governor  of  Ohio  two  terms 
and  twice  elected  President.  Henderson  was  twice 
elected  Speaker.  Cannon  was  four  times  elected 
Speaker,  while  Burrows  had  an  honorable  career  in  the 
Senate. 


CHAPTER  III 

COUNTING  A  QUORUM 

Speaker  Reed  Produces  a  Great  Sensation — Riotous  Scenes  in  the 
House  of  Representatives — Bitter  Party  Strife  Over  Contested 
Election  Cases — Democrats  Try  Absent  Treatment — Majority 
Rule  Established — Reed  on  the  "  Tyranny  of  the  Minority." 

\V7HETHER  at  the  time  of  his  election  as  Speaker 
Mr.  Reed  had  in  mind  all  the  parliamentary 
reforms  which  he  put  into  practice  may  well  be  doubted. 
At  all  events,  he  kept  the  secret  so  closely  guarded  that 
no  one  knew  of  his  intention  to  count  a  quorum  until 
he  actually  began  to  do  so.  Had  he  taken  the  proposal 
before  a  Republican  caucus,  several  members  of  his 
own  party  would  have  refused  to  follow  him  in  such  a 
radical  step  and  he  would  have  lacked  the  majority 
necessary  to  success,  but  he  sprang  his  new  system  at 
a  time  when  party  feeling  ran  high  over  a  contested 
election  case  and  the  fierce  denunciations  of  the  Demo 
crats  solidified  his  own  party.  To  a  man  the  Republi 
cans  rallied  to  his  support. 

Before  and  since  that  time  there  have  been  many 
riotous  occasions  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  but 
it  is  to  be  doubted  whether  there  ever  was  such  wild 
excitement,  burning  indignation,  scathing  denunci 
ation,  and  really  dangerous  conditions  as  existed  in  the 

23 


24          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

House  for  a  few  days  while  quorum  counting  was  being 
established. 

Reed  was  denounced  as  a  czar,  despot,  tyrant, 
usurper,  and  such  other  terms  as  came  to  the  minds  of 
his  opponents.  Sectional  feeling  added  heat  to  the  at 
mosphere,  but  northern  Democrats  were  as  fierce  as 
were  their  southern  colleagues  in  denouncing  the 
Speaker. 

At  times  the  whole  Democratic  side  would  rise, 
shout,  gesticulate,  and  create  a  tumult.  On  one  occa 
sion  little  Joe  Wheeler,  the  famous  Confederate  cavalry 
leader,  unable  to  get  to  the  front  on  account  of  the 
crowded  aisles,  came  down  from  the  rear  seats  leaping 
from  desk  to  desk  as  the  ibex  leaps  from  crag  to  crag. 
On  this  occasion  only  one  Democrat  remained  seated. 
Old  "Howdy"  Martin,  a  six-foot-six  Texan,  sat  in  his 
seat  and  whetted  a  bowie  knife  on  the  sole  of  his  boot. 

Riot  and  bloodshed  seemed  imminent  and  yet  Reed 
went  calmly  along  with  his  work.  Threats  to  pull  him 
from  the  Speaker's  chair  and  violent  demonstrations 
did  not  disturb  him.  Never  for  a  moment  did  he  lose 
his  nerve.  At  times  he  showed  exasperation,  but  never 
lost  control  of  the  situation. 

"A  hundred  Democrats,"  wrote  a  Democratic  news 
paper  correspondent,  describing  one  of  the  scenes, 
"were  on  their  feet  howling  for  recognition,  yet  the 
moon-faced  despot  sat  silent  and  gazed  vacantly  over 
their  heads." 

Reed  would  have  put  through  the  quorum  counting 
reform  without  discussion,  so  firmly  was  he  convinced 


Counting  a  Quorum  25 

that  he  was  right,  but  more  moderate  counsels  prevailed 
and  the  subject  was  threshed  over  for  several  days. 

Incidentally  that  first  fight  over  counting  a  quorum 
made  Charles  F.  Crisp  of  Georgia  Reed's  successor  as 
Speaker — that  and  a  few  judicious  trades  in  the  selection 
of  chairmen  of  important  committees.  Crisp  had  the 
management  of  the  minority  side  in  the  election  con 
test,  having  been  relegated  to  a  minor  position  by  the 
Democrats  of  the  House.  For  several  days  he  held  the 
center  of  the  stage  as  his  party  battled  with  the  mighty 
Reed  and  the  Republican  majority. 

Before  the  application  of  the  Reed  rules,  a  minority 
could  tie  up  the  House  and  make  a  filibuster  successful. 
The  minority  conducting  the  filibuster  was  much  more 
powerful  than  any  such  minority  in  the  Senate  ever 
had  been,  because  in  the  House  it  was  a  simple  matter 
of  having  the  roll  called  all  day  long.  The  parlia 
mentary  practice  before  the  Reed  rules  went  into  effect 
permitted  men  to  be  present  and  force  roll  calls,  but 
they  could  sit  in  their  seats  and  refuse  to  respond  to 
their  names,  thus  breaking  a  quorum. 

It  was  the  intention  of  the  Democrats  of  the  Fifty- 
first  Congress  to  use  the  filibuster  to  prevent  the  pas 
sage  of  objectionable  bills;  to  prevent  the  unseating  of 
southern  members,  against  whom  numerous  contests 
were  filed;  and  particularly  to  prevent  the  enactment 
of  laws  which  would  nullify  the  methods  that  the 
whites  had  adopted  in  the  South  to  keep  the  blacks 
from  voting  or  having  their  votes  counted. 

It  was  upon  the  contested  election  case  of  Smith  vs. 


26          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Jackson  from  West  Virginia  that  the  quorum  fight  was 
made.  No  one  cared  much  about  either  of  the  candi 
dates,  and  when  the  final  vote  was  taken  no  one  was 
interested  in  the  merits  of  the  case.  John  Dalzell  of 
Pennsylvania,  then  a  comparatively  new  member,  had 
charge  of  the  case  for  the  Republicans  and  started  the 
ball  rolling  by  calling  it  up. 

Crisp  for  the  Democrats  raised  the  parliamentary 
point  of  "consideration,"  and  the  question  was,  "shall 
the  House  consider  the  contested  election  case  of  Smith 
vs.  Jackson?"  Crisp  demanded  the  yeas  and  nays, 
and  the  Democratic  side  rose  as  one  man  to  second  the 
demand. 

"Evidently  a  sufficient  number,"  drawled  Reed  and 
ordered  a  roll  call.  The  Democrats  refused  to  vote 
and  at  the  conclusion  of  the  call  a  quorum  had  not  been 
recorded.  The  Speaker  then  directed  the  clerk  to  note 
on  the  record  the  names  of  members,  which  he  began 
to  read.  The  names  were  those  of  many  prominent 
Democrats  who  had  not  voted  and  were  sitting  in  their 
seats. 

At  once  a  vigorous  protest  was  made.  Among  the 
first  names  called  was  that  of  Breckinridge  of  Ken 
tucky,  famous  for  his  silver  hair  and  silver  tongue,  who 
afterwards  figured  in  a  notorious  scandal. 

"I  deny  the  power  of  the  Speaker  and  denounce  it  as 
revolutionary,"  shouted  the  Kentuckian. 

This  was  greeted  with  wild  applause.  Others  were 
equally  vehement,  and  tried  to  appeal  from  the  decision 
of  the  Chair.  Reed  was  denounced  as  a  "political 


Counting  a  Quorum  27 

demagogue,"  a  "disorderly  Speaker,"  and  his  action 
declared  an  "unconstitutional  assumption  of  power." 

When  Reed  announced  the  name  of  McCreary  of 
Kentucky,  the  latter  shouted : 

"I  deny  your  right  to  count  me  as  present." 

"The  Chair  is  making  a  statement  of  fact,"  drawled 
Reed,  "which  is  that  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  is 
present.  Does  he  deny  it?" 

"Must  the  representatives  of  the  people  submit  to 
brute  force?"  came  in  stentorian  tones  from  McMillin 
of  Tennessee. 

' '  I  make  the  point  of  order  that  the  Chair  has  no  right 
to  count  members  present  who  have  not  answered  to 
roll  call,"  said  Breckinridge,  when  Reed  had  concluded 
his  list  of  names. 

Breckinridge  belonged  to  that  coterie  of  Democrats 
who  assumed  to  run  their  party  in  the  House.  He  and 
others  saw  that  a  big  thing  was  on  and  they  tried  to 
elbow  Crisp  out  of  his  place  as  leader  for  the  time  being. 

"The  Chair  overrules  the  point  of  order,"  calmly 
declared  Reed. 

"I  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  Chair,"  shouted 
Breckinridge. 

"I  move  to  lay  the  appeal  on  the  table,"  quickly 
interposed  Payson  of  Illinois,  who  was  one  of  the  kind 
that  would  have  delighted  old  Thad.  Stevens. 

Then  pandemonium  broke  loose. 

That  motion  if  carried  would  have  shut  off  debate, 
and  the  Democrats  gave  voice  to  a  violent  protest. 
The  storm  was  furious.  It  looked  for  a  time  as  if  there 


28          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

would  be  such  a  riot  as  forever  to  discredit  representa 
tive  government. 

Then  a  man  on  the  Republican  side  claimed  atten 
tion.  Ben  Butterworth  was  seeking  recognition  and  a 
hearing.  For  the  moment  the  tumult  subsided  and  his 
clarion  voice  rang  out  above  the  din : 

"This  is  a  most  important  matter,  Mr.  Speaker,  and 
I  think  we  should  have  debate  upon  it." 

A  hoarse  shout  of  approval  went  up  from  the  Demo 
cratic  side.  McKinley  was  on  his  feet  supporting 
Butterworth's  suggestion.  Reed  nodded  to  Payson 
and  he  withdrew  his  motion.  Then  the  debate  began. 

Very  interesting  it  was,  then,  but  in  the  light  of  what 
has  happened  since,  how  absurd  seems  the  claim  that 
members  cannot  be  counted  to  make  a  quorum  when 
the  Constitution  says  that  a  quorum  can  be  com 
pelled  to  attend.  But  it  was  the  greatest  issue  of  that 
time. 

Although  the  debate  proceeded  for  several  days,  the 
Democrats  fought  every  inch  of  the  way.  They  com 
pelled  the  reading  of  every  word  of  the  Journal  each 
day  and  forced  several  roll  calls  upon  its  approval; 
they  continued  to  refuse  to  vote;  and  denounced  Reed 
every  day  as  a  czar,  tyrant,  and  usurper,  because  he 
continued  to  count  a  quorum  on  every  roll  call. 

It  was  during  the  debate  that  Crisp  stated  that  Reed 
had  been  formerly  diametrically  opposed  to  the  new 
position  he  had  taken,  and  added  the  quotation:  "'I 
appeal  from  Philip  drunk  to  Philip  sober.'" 

"You  are  a  tyrant  and  a  czar,"  was  old  Silver  Dick 


Counting  a  Quorum  29 

Eland's  contribution  to  the  symposium.  Springer  of 
Illinois  appealed  time  after  time.  Reed  would  fence 
with  him  for  a  little  while  and  then  refuse  to  listen  or 
would  ignore  him. 

"The  decisions  of  the  Chair  are  clearly  corrupt,"  as 
serted  Breckinridge. 

At  one  stage  Reed  secured  order  enough  to  say : 

"The  business  of  the  House  is  not  to  be  interrupted 
by  noise,  applause,  or  clamor." 

Then  the  racket  was  redoubled. 

"This  is  tyranny,  simple  and  undiluted,"  declared 
Springer.  "It  is  an  outrage  upon  the  House  and  the 
American  people." 

On  the  fourth  day  of  the  turmoil,  Bynum  of  Indiana 
broke  forth  in  a  tirade  against  the  Speaker,  insinuating 
corrupt  motives. 

"I  demand  that  his  words  be  taken  down,"  shouted 
Cutcheon  of  Michigan. 

That  started  a  new  issue  and  Bynum  was  tried  for 
using  unparliamentary  language.  The  Republicans 
voted  him  guilty  and  subject  to  censure. 

It  was  late  at  night  after  a  parliamentary  and  party 
struggle  which  was  wearing  even  to  those  who  watched 
and  listened.  But  the  iron  hand  of  Reed  was  on  the 
lever  of  the  machine,  which  ground  slowly  but  to  a 
purpose. 

Bynum  was  directed  by  the  Speaker  to  stand  before 
the  bar  of  the  House.  He  came  down  the  aisle  on 
the  Democratic  side  amidst  a  burst  of  cheers,  and  was 
followed  into  the  area  in  front  of  the  Speaker's  desk  by 


3°          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

the  entire  Democratic  membership.  It  looked  for  a 
moment  as  if  they  intended  to  mob  the  Speaker. 

' '  Gentlemen  will  take  their  seats  and  the  House  will 
be  in  order,"  commanded  Reed. 

This  was  met  by  a  roar  of  defiance  and  a  shout  that 
they  intended  to  share  Bynum's  censure. 

Reed  gazed  at  them  for  a  moment  in  silence,  and  con 
tempt  showed  in  his  expressive  countenance.  "As 
certain  members  of  the  House  refuse  to  be  in  order,"  he 
said,  "it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  Chair  to  proceed  while 
the  House  is  in  disorder." 

It  was  expected  that  he  would  use  his  great  power  of 
invective  to  excoriate  Bynum,  but  he  simply  said : 

"Mr.  Bynum,  the  House  has  ordered  that  you  be 
censured  for  the  use  of  unparliamentary  language 
spoken  in  debate,  and  I  now  pronounce  that  censure 
upon  you." 

Very  mild  after  a  tumultuous  day.  Much  ado  about 
nothing,  and  the  Democrats  packed  around  Bynum 
looked  rather  foolish. 

It  was  about  the  end  of  that  part  of  the  fight  on 
counting  a  quorum.  The  quorum  was  established  by 
Reed  each  time  on  every  vote,  as  he  always  counted  a 
quorum  when  Democrats  present  refused  to  vote.  This 
counting  of  a  quorum  was  afterwards  sustained  by  a 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Speaker  Reed  established  the  fact  that  he  could  and 
would  count  a  quorum,  and  by  counting  quorums 
would  put  through  legislation,  and,  what  was  more 
annoying  to  the  Democrats,  the  Republicans  seated 


Counting  a  Quorum  31 

Republicans  where  seats  were  contested.  It  was 
charged  by  the  Democrats  that  it  was  the  intention  to 
unseat  enough  Democrats,  filling  their  places  with 
negroes,  to  ensure  the  enactment  of  the  force  bill  and 
pass  other  drastic  measures.  Unable  to  beat  the  Reed 
game  by  not  voting,  they  tried  the  absent  system. 

Again  it  was  a  contested  election,  this  time  a  negro 
against  a  white  man  from  a  Virginia  district.  Langs- 
ton  was  the  contestant  and  Venable  was  the  Democrat 
holding  the  seat.  Again  the  fight  was  made  without 
any  of  the  coterie  of  Democrats  who  ran  the  House 
when  Carlisle  was  Speaker  having  charge.  This  coterie 
consisted  of  Mills  of  Texas,  the  two  Breckinridges  of 
Kentucky  and  Arkansas,  McMillin  of  Tennessee, 
Turner  of  Georgia,  Bynum  of  Indiana,  and  Wilson  of 
West  Virginia. 

O'Ferrall  of  Virginia  had  charge  of  the  Democratic 
side  during  the  absentee  fight,  with  Crisp  assisting  him 
as  a  lieutenant ;  but  Crisp  kept  out  of  sight  unless  it  was 
imperatively  necessary  for  him  to  appear  in  the  House. 
For  days  O'Ferrall  had  the  entire  Democratic  side  to 
himself  while  the  Republicans  struggled  to  secure  a 
quorum  of  their  own. 

For  some  unknown  reason  there  are  always  a  number 
of  men  elected  to  Congress  who  will  not  attend  the  ses 
sions.  They  are  chronic  absentees.  Just  as  Ike  Hill, 
who  for  years  was  aide  on  the  Democratic  side,  often 
said,  there  are  men  who  will  never  vote.  No  matter 
how  close  or  important  the  vote  may  be,  they  fail  to 
get  into  the  House  in  time  to  answer  a  roll  call. 


32          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Starting  with  a  majority  of  only  eight  the  Repub 
licans  were  hard  pressed  when  the  entire  Democratic 
side  remained  away.  With  one  or  two  men  ill,  to 
gether  with  the  chronic  absentees,  they  were  without  a 
quorum.  Reed  did  not  care  to  go  to  the  length  of 
using  force  to  compel  Democrats  to  attend,  so  the 
Republicans  waited  several  days  while  urgent  messages 
were  sent  to  the  delinquents. 

The  contested  election  case  reached  a  stage  where 
only  one  member  was  necessary  for  a  quorum.  Reed 
had  counted  all  the  Republicans,  also  O'Ferrall,  who 
had  to  remain  on  the  floor  for  parliamentary  purposes. 
Two  Republicans  had  been  brought  in  on  cots.  Then 
by  mistake  a  Democrat  looked  out  of  the  cloak  room  to 
see  what  caused  the  impressive  silence  in  the  chamber 
and  Reed  nailed  him,  and  the  pending  resolution  un 
seating  Venable  was  adopted.  That  advanced  the 
case,  but  it  was  necessary  to  adopt  a  resolution  seating 
Langston.  O'Ferrall  continued  the  fight  and  forced  a 
count  of  the  House,  although  he  could  not  get  a  roll 
call.  Then  all  curious  Democrats  kept  out  of  sight. 

There  was  a  long  wait.  The  Republicans  knew  that 
one  of  their  men  was  on  his  way  to  Washington.  Sud 
denly  there  was  a  flash  of  red  whiskers  at  the  rear  of  the 
Republican  side  and  a  cheer  went  up  from  the  waiting 
members.  The  whiskers  waggled  and  a  voice  came 
through  them,  saying : 

"One  more,  Mr.  Speaker,"  and  Sweney  of  Iowa  had 
been  counted.  That  made  the  quorum. 

Reed  declared  the  quorum  present,  the  pending  reso- 


Counting  a  Quorum  33 

lution  was  carried,  and  the  next  moment  a  negro  stood 
before  the  Speaker  and  was  sworn  in  as  a  member  of 
the  House. 

Before  anyone  could  think  of  what  was  going  on, 
Rowell  of  Illinois,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Elec 
tions,  had  called  up  another  case,  had  secured  the  adop 
tion  of  a  resolution  unseating  a  southern  Democrat, 
and  had  another  resolution  adopted  seating  the  con 
testant,  and  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it, 
another  negro  was  being  sworn  in  as  a  member  of  the 
House. 

A  Democratic  newspaper  man  in  the  press  gallery, 
looking  across  to  a  gallery  which  was  filled  with  negroes, 
said: 

"Reed  has  just  sent  up  there  to  see  if  there  is  another 
likely  looking  nigger  in  the  gallery,  and  if  they  find  one 
he's  to  be  brought  down  and  sworn  in  as  a  member  of 
the  House." 

Seeing  the  jig  was  up,  the  Democrats  began  returning 
to  their  seats  amidst  the  jeers  of  the  Republicans.  The 
fight  over  rules  was  practically  at  an  end.  It  was 
shown  that  the  wheels  of  the  House  would  turn,  and 
although  the  fight  against  Reed  continued  to  the  very 
end  of  the  Congress,  and  the  Democrats  refused  to  ac 
cord  him  the  courtesy  of  a  vote  of  thanks  when  the 
session  closed,  he  had  established  a  system  which  will 
remain  a  monument  to  his  memory.  These  Reed  Rules 
have  been  adopted  in  all  subsequent  Congresses,  whether 
Republican  or  Democratic.  Every  House  secures  it 
self  against  filibustering  and  retains  its  power  to  do 

VOL. I — 3 


34          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

business.  The  Reed  Congress  put  an  end  to  effective 
filibustering  in  that  body. 

Reed  was  an  intense  partisan  and  no  doubt  had  the 
same  idea  as  most  members  of  his  party  about  the  right 
of  negroes  to  vote  and  to  wield  power  when  they  were 
in  the  majority.  Probably  his  ideas  on  this  matter 
were  modified  in  later  years.  At  all  events,  when  he 
was  in  power  in  the  House  a  second  time,  with  a  Re 
publican  President  and  a  Republican  Senate,  he  made 
no  effort  to  revive  the  force  bill.  In  the  Fifty-first 
Congress  he  was  not  particularly  mindful  of  the  black 
Republicans.  The  machinery  by  which  Democrats 
were  ousted  and  Republicans  were  seated  was  used  for 
white  Republicans  in  several  instances.  What  Reed 
mainly  sought  was  to  establish  the  principle  that  the 
majority  should  rule. 

Once  I  heard  him  discussing  with  a  number  of  others 
his  change  of  opinion  in  the  matter  of  the  right  of  the 
Speaker  to  count  a  quorum,  or  the  counting  as  present 
members  who  refused  to  vote.  It  began  when  one  of 
his  Democratic  friends  accused  him  of  "flopping." 

"It  was  Napoleon,"  drawled  Reed,  "who  said  that 
'  the  Bourbons  never  learned  anything. '  He  must  have 
had  in  his  mind's  eye  the  Bourbons  of  Democracy. 
They  not  only  never  learn  anything,  but  they  seriously 
object  if  any  other  person  shows  a  tendency  to  learn 
from  experience.  I  changed  my  position  because  I  saw 
the  tyranny  of  the  minority.  A  minority  is  without 
responsibility,  yet  it  assumes  to  dictate  to  the  majority. 
The  rights  of  the  minority  have  been  preserved  when 


Counting  a  Quorum  35 

it  has  an  opportunity  to  debate  and  offer  motions  which 
will  test  the  determination  of  a  majority.  When  a 
minority  seeks  to  prevent  affirmative  action  by  the 
majority,  it  goes  beyond  its  rights.  When  a  minority 
has  the  power  to  prevent  the  majority  from  acting  and 
legislating,  it  becomes  a  tyranny.  I  believe  the  ma 
jority  should  rule  and  legislate  and  should  be  held 
responsible  for  its  acts." 


CHAPTER  IV 

REED  DEFEATS  FREE  SILVER 

Saves  Harrison  Necessity  of  a  Veto — Mills  Leads  the  Democrats  to  a 
Barren  Victory — Makeshift  Sherman  Silver  Purchase  Law  and 
Blair's  Humorous  Comment. 

JUST  why  Tom  Reed  interposed  his  bulk  and  brains 
between  Harrison  and  a  veto  of  a  free  silver  bill 
is  one  of  the  unexplained  mysteries  of  the  Fifty-first 
Congress.  Whether  Reed  wanted  the  credit  of  defeat 
ing  free  silver  for  future  political  purposes  of  his  own,  or 
feared  Harrison  would  approve  the  bill,  is  still  a  matter 
of  doubt.  It  might  have  been  because  a  fight  was 
offered  him  and  he  accepted  the  gage  of  battle.  He  was 
always  ready  for  a  contest.  At  all  events,  he  saved  the 
day  and  defeated  free  coinage. 

Silver  legislation  of  some  kind  was  inevitable.  The 
Republicans  felt  that  they  "must  do  something  for 
silver. ' '  There  were  enough  Republicans  in  each  House 
who  held  silver  above  everything  else  to  have  turned 
the  apparent  Republican  majority  into  a  minority,  and 
at  times  that  was  just  what  occurred.  Not  only  were 
the  men  who  represented  silver  producing  states  de 
voted  to  the  white  metal,  but  many  other  western  men 
were  red  hot  for  silver.  McKinley  had  once  voted  for 
free  coinage,  but  had  modified  his  views.  The  country 

36 


Reed  Defeats  Free  Silver  37 

was  blundering  along  under  the  Bland-Allison  act, 
which  was  a  compromise  of  several  years  before. 

Having  determined  "to  do  something  for  silver,"  a 
makeshift,  nondescript  bill  was  passed  by  the  House. 
The  Senate  sent  it  back  with  a  free  coinage  amendment. 
Only  three  Democrats,  Gray  of  Delaware,  McPherson 
of  New  Jersey,  and  Wilson  of  Maryland,  voted  against 
it.  Even  Gorman,  the  Democratic  leader,  voted  con 
trary  to  his  convictions  because  it  was  regarded  as  a 
party  measure.  The  fight  in  the  House  began  over  the 
disposition  of  the  bill  as  amended. 

Silver  Dick  Bland,  as  the  ranking  Democratic  member 
of  the  Committee  on  Coinage,  Weights,  and  Measures, 
opened  the  contest,  as  was  his  right,  but  as  this  promised 
to  be  a  big  fight,  the  coterie  of  Democrats  who  assumed 
control  of  the  party  took  it  out  of  his  hands  and  Mills 
of  Texas  took  full  charge. 

The  proposition  was  to  have  the  House  vote  directly 
upon  the  Senate  amendment,  there  being  at  the  time  a 
free  coinage  majority,  because  many  anti-silver  Demo 
crats  thought  it  was  good  politics  to  "put  the  Repub 
licans  in  a  hole." 

Reed  and  his  assistants  prevented  a  vote  or  any  ac 
tion  by  the  House  on  the  bill  the  first  day.  On  the 
next  morning  everybody  read  in  the  Congressional 
Record  that  the  silver  bill  had  been  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  Coinage,  of  which  Conger  of  Iowa  was 
Chairman. 

Mills  began  his  operations  by  offering  a  resolution  to 
correct  the  Journal  by  expunging  from  it  the  minute 


38          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

which  showed  that  the  bill  had  been  referred. 
McKinley,  the  floor  leader,  tried  to  bury  Mills  under 
points  of  order  and  other  parliamentary  maneuvers, 
but  Mills  had  the  votes  which  gave  him  control. 

1 '  Now  is  the  time  to  redeem  the  pledges  of  all  parties 
and  give  the  people  free  coinage,"  he  cried.  "You 
silver  men  on  that  side  can  do  it.  The  opponents  of 
this  bill  on  this  side  can  be  counted  on  the  fingers  of 
one  hand." 

And  then  the  debate  went  on  for  several  days  with 
an  occasional  bright  spot.  Here  is  one :  Crisp  of  Georgia 
had  the  floor  and  was  interrupted  by  Ben  Butterworth 
of  Ohio,  and  it  brought  from  Crisp  this  statement : 

"During  the  whole  session  the  gentleman  and  his 
party,  if  I  may  be  permitted  to  borrow  a  simile,  have 
seemed  to  bow  before  the  Speaker  with  much  the  same 
feeling  with  which  the  Hindu  bows  before  the  hideous 
image  of  his  god.  'He  knows  that  he  is  ugly,  but  he 
feels  that  he  is  great.  ' 

"Well,"  replied  Butterworth,  "I  do  not  dissent  from 
the  good  looks  of  the  Speaker,  and  I  agree  that  he  is 
great." 

After  a  long  debate  and  many  votes  Mills  had  the 
paragraph  which  referred  the  silver  bill  to  Conger's 
committee,  erased  from  the  Journal,  and  the  jubilant 
Democrats  waited  for  another  day. 

Then  Bland  was  allowed  to  take  charge  and  he  sought 
to  have  the  silver  bill  taken  up.  McKinley  went  in  with 
a  number  of  points  of  order,  but  it  was  Conger  who 
threw  the  real  bomb,  saying: 


Reed  Defeats  Free  Silver  39 

"I  make  the  point  of  order  that  Mr.  Eland's  motion 
is  out  of  order  because  the  bill  is  not  before  the  House." 

''Where  is  it?"  shouted  a  number  of  members. 

"In  the  possession  of  my  committee,"  replied  Con 
ger.  "The  Speaker  referred  it,  I  received  and  receipted 
for  it,  and  it  is  in  the  committee  room  now.  You  can't 
consider  a  bill  that  is  in  possession  of  a  committee." 

Then  there  was  trouble. 

All  the  debate  and  work  and  roll  calls  had  been  for 
nothing.  Mills  had  taken  charge,  had  apparently  un 
horsed  the  Speaker  and  paved  the  way  for  a  direct  vote 
on  free  silver,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  he  had  accom 
plished  nothing.  They  had  the  votes,  but  had  no  bill ! 

There  was  more  debate  over  this  situation,  more  roll 
calls,  but  Reed  was  "inching  up"  all  the  time.  When 
Mills  first  began  his  fight  he  had  a  clear  majority,  but 
he  secured  approval  for  the  amended  Journal  by  a  vote 
of  only  132  to  130. 

In  ruling  on  the  point  of  order  as  to  where  the  bill 
was,  Reed  said  that  the  act  of  removing  from  the 
Journal  the  record  of  the  reference  of  the  bill  had  no  real 
effect.  ' '  It  was  like  the  scuttling  of  a  boat  which  had 
carried  a  man  safely  across  a  lake;  it  would  not  land 
him  on  the  other  shore."  He  held  that  the  bill  had 
been  referred  to  the  committee  in  accordance  with  the 
rules  of  the  House,  and  notwithstanding  the  erasure  of 
the  reference  in  the  Journal,  the  fact  of  the  reference 
remained,  the  bill  was  then  in  the  committee. 

Bland  appealed  from  the  decision,  and  after  more 
debate  the  matter  went  over  for  another  day,  with 


4°          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

McKinley's  motion  pending  to  lay  the  appeal  on  the 
table.  The  next  morning  Bland  tried  to  withdraw 
his  appeal  and  was  supported  by  other  leading  silver 
Democrats,  but  the  Republicans  would  not  consent. 

Reed  and  his  lieutenants  had  won  over  most  of  the 
silver  men  in  their  own  party  except  those  from  the 
silver-producing  states.  Republican  members  knew  that 
to  overturn  the  Speaker's  latest  ruling  would  upset  all 
'party  control  in  the  House.  Then  another  factor  had 
entered  into  the  situation .  The  Democrats  from  Massa 
chusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania, 
who  had  been  following  Mills,  heard  from  home  in  no 
uncertain  tones.  Their  constituents  severely  criticized 
them  for  their  silver  votes,  and  the  half  dozen  to  whom 
Mills  referred  at  the  beginning  of  the  debate  as  the 
number  who  would  vote  against  silver,  increased  to  a 
score  when  the  final  vote  came,  and  Reed  was  sustained. 

A  few  weeks  later,  the  Republicans  allowed  a  direct 
vote  on  the  free  coinage  proposition,  but  they  had  can 
vassed  their  own  side  and  also  knew  how  many  Demo 
crats  would  vote  against  silver.  Free  coinage  was 
defeated  by  a  vote  of  144  to  117.  Twenty- two  Re 
publicans  voted  for  free  silver  and  twenty  Democrats 
voted  against  it.  Not  a  Democrat  from  the  South  or 
West  voted  against  silver.  In  a  short  time  there  was  a 
wonderful  change.  Only  a  few  years  later  Mills,  Crisp, 
and  a  number  of  others  were  supporting  Cleveland  in 
his  fight  to  secure  the  repeal  of  the  silver  purchase  law. 
Bynum,  one  of  the  leaders  in  1890,  bolted  Bryan's  free 
silver  platform  in  1896  and  became  a  Republican. 


Reed  Defeats  Free  Silver  41 

It  was  a  hard  time  for  men  who  did  not  believe  in 
free  silver,  but  who  represented  constituencies  which 
favored  free  coinage.  One  of  these  was  John  L.  Wilson 
of  Washington,  a  small,  nervous,  highly  strung  in 
dividual,  who  had  decided  opinions  of  his  own.  Wilson 
had  difficulties  with  the  Senators  from  his  own  state 
over  patronage.  He  was  a  native  of  Indiana  and  had 
known  Harrison  in  earlier  years.  The  President  had 
at  the  beginning  of  Wilson's  term  shown  a  kindly  in 
terest  in  him,  and  Wilson  at  first  supposed  that  he  could 
have  his  own  way  in  patronage  matters.  But  Harrison 
would  not  help  a  friend  when  it  interfered  with  sena 
torial  prerogative.  He  was  too  deeply  imbued  with  the 
importance  of  the  Senate  to  give  any  preference  to  a 
member  of  the  House.  So  Wilson  was  constantly  over 
thrown  by  the  Senators.  During  the  long  fight  over 
the  silver  bill  Wilson  had  stood  up  and  voted  with  Reed 
although  the  Senators  from  his  state  had  voted  for  free 
silver. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  fight  in  the  House  intense 
interest  was  shown  by  Senators.  Many  were  seen  in 
back  seats  and  the  space  behind  the  desks  every  day. 
Several  Senators  tried  to  influence  the  members  from 
their  states,  some  urging  them  to  vote  one  way  and 
some  another  way.  For  instance  John  J.  Ingalls,  who 
voted  and  spoke  for  silver  in  the  Senate — and  who 
didn't  believe  in  it — spent  much  time  in  the  House  try 
ing  to  get  Kansas  members  to  sustain  Reed  and  prevent 
the  passage  of  a  free  silver  bill. 

Senators  from  silver  states  were  as  anxious  the  other 


42          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

way.  Senator  Power  of  Montana,  a  shrewd,  small  man 
of  many  peculiarities,  was  on  hand  frequently.  It  was 
well  understood  that  he  was  watching  Tom  Carter, 
with  whom  he  was  in  constant  political  disagreement 
and  who  was  supposed  to  be  seeking  Power's  seat — 
which  he  later  obtained.  Carter  was  one  of  Reed's 
friends ;  he  knew  Reed  was  right,  but  he  did  not  commit 
political  hari-kari  by  any  votes  on  the  silver  question. 

One  day  Power  went  into  the  cloak  room  and  found 
Wilson,  who  had  just  voted  against  silver  on  one  of  the 
many  roll  calls. 

"Better  look  out,"  said  Power,  in  his  shrill,  irritating 
voice;  "better  get  in  line;  better  vote  right;  better  vote 
for  silver;  the  boys  are  watching;  check  'em  up;  check 
'em  up." 

"See  here!"  blazed  Wilson;  "I'm  senator-ridden 
in  my  own  state  as  much  as  I  can  stand,  and  I'll  not 
take  any  of  it  from  you.  You're  one  man  I  can  lick 
and  I'll  do  it  right  now  if  you  don't  get  out  of  here!" 

The  way  Power  vanished  from  the  cloak  room  and 
through  the  door  of  the  House  was  one  of  the  interesting 
features  of  the  interview. 

The  silver  purchase  law  was  a  bungling  piece  of  busi 
ness,  being  little  more  than  the  Populist  sub -treasury 
plan  applied  to  one  commodity.  It  was  called  the 
Sherman  law  because  the  final  draft  was  made  by  the 
Ohio  Senator.  Sherman  repudiated  actual  authorship 
and  said  the  law  was  the  result  of  a  compromise,  and  he 
had  only  written  out  the  terms  of  agreement  between 
silver  men  like  Jones  of  Nevada  and  Teller  of  Colorado 


Reed  Defeats  Free  Silver  43 

and  gold  men  like  Conger  of  Iowa  and  Walker  of 
Massachusetts. 

There  was  one  bright  ray  in  the  gloom  which  hung 
over  the  Senate  on  the  day  the  conference  report  was 
adopted.  The  agreement  was  unsatisfactory  to  every 
body.  No  free  coinage  man  wanted  it  and  every  gold 
man  was  disgusted  with  it.  It  was  a  Republican  com 
promise  and  not  a  Democrat  voted  for  it,  while  the 
Republicans  voted  for  it  as  a  makeshift ;  the  gold  men 
because  it  avoided  free  coinage  and  the  silver  men  be 
cause  it  was  the  best  they  could  get.  The  ray  of  sun 
shine  was  contributed  by  Henry  W.  Blair  of  New 
Hampshire,  whose  dry  humor  often  came  like  a  flash  of 
light  into  the  gloom  of  the  upper  chamber,  for  humor  is 
a  rare  article  in  the  Senate.  Blair  spoke  the  final  word 
before  the  vote  was  taken,  saying: 

"I  think  nothing  so  adds  to  the  happiness  of  the 
surroundings  as  for  a  sick  man  to  take  his  medicine 
cheerfully;  and  as  I  intend  to  vote  for  this  bill,  after 
listening  to  one  Senator  from  Oregon  (Dolph)  who  finds 
in  it  the  gold  standard,  that  it  is  a  gold  measure,  and  to 
the  other  Senator  from  Oregon  (Mitchell)  who  finds  in  it 
unlimited  or  free  coinage  in  substance,  and  the  Senator 
from  Kansas  (Plumb)  who  is  satisfied  it  is  a  free  coinage 
bill,  and  to  the  Senator  from  Colorado  (Teller)  who  is 
not  satisfied  precisely  what  it  is,  but  is  very  well  satis 
fied  with  it,  I  thought  that  I  would  vote  for  the  bill, 
but  that  I  would  give  notice  to  the  Senate  that  under 
no  circumstances  whatever,  here  or  elsewhere,  would  I 
ever  give  a  single  reason  for  so  doing." 


CHAPTER  V 

TARIFF  ALWAYS  A  POLITICAL  ISSUE 

McKinley  Law  Followed  by  Republican  Defeat  —  Elaine  Forces  Recipro 
city  into  the  Bill  —  Tom  Carter  Fights  for  a  Duty  on  Lead  —  Begin 
ning  of  the  Populist  Party  and  the  Ocala  Platform  —  Wit  and  Sharp 
Words  in  the  Senate. 


political  issues  may  come  and  go,  but  the 
tariff  goes  on  forever.  The  tariff  was  the  main 
issue  which  brought  the  Republicans  back  into  power 
in  the  election  of  1888,  and  they  enacted  the  McKinley 
bill  which  remained  operative  only  four  years,  but  in 
that  time  had  far-reaching  political  results,  disastrous 
to  the  Republicans  in  two  campaigns. 

The  man  most  noted  in  connection  with  the  tariff  of 
1890  was,  of  course,  McKinley.  There  were  asso 
ciated  with  him  Burrows  of  Michigan,  Dingley  of 
Maine,  McKenna  of  California,  afterwards  on  the  Su 
preme  Bench,  Hopkins  of  Illinois,  and  La  Follette  of 
Wisconsin,  afterwards  in  the  Senate. 

It  was  James  G.  Blaine,  however,  who  had  the  reci 
procity  provision  inserted  in  the  McKinley  bill  and  who 
smashed  his  hat  in  anger  in  the  Finance  Committee  room 
because  such  men  as  Morrill,  Aldrich,  Sherman,  and 
Allison  could  not  appreciate  the  glories  of  reciprocity. 
One  of  them  flippantly  remarked  that  it  was  a  "flim- 

44 


Tariff  Always  a  Political  Issue      45 

flam"  game;  an  attempt  to  get  something  for  nothing, 
which  meant  in  reality  that  the  United  States  would  get 
the  short  end  of  bargains  made  with  the  Latin-American 
countries.  But  as  Jim  Blaine  had  been  an  idol  of  the 
party  and  was  so  much  in  earnest  as  to  smash  a  new 
silk  tile  in  his  gesticulations,  they  decided  to  gratify 
him. 

Blaine  had  been  the  inventor,  promoter,  and  chief 
figure  of  the  first  Pan-American  congress  which  as 
sembled  in  Washington  in  1889.  It  was  Blaine  who  had 
the  big  idea  that  water  could  be  made  to  run  up  hill;  or, 
what  was  the  same  thing,  that  trade  currents  could  be 
diverted  from  their  natural  courses.  But  he  has  not 
been  the  only  person  possessed  by  this  idea.  Succes 
sive  Pan-American  conferences  have  shown  that  the  same 
hope  that  was  implanted  in  the  mind  of  Ponce  de  Leon, 
in  regard  to  changing  the  course  of  nature,  continues  to 
exist  as  to  the  possibility  of  changing  the  routes  of  com 
merce  from  east  and  west  to  north  and  south.  By  the 
magic  word  "reciprocity"  it  was  expected  that  coun 
tries  largely  engaged  in  the  same  pursuits  could  be 
induced  to  exchange  products  with  each  other.  Blaine 
did  not  like  Great  Britain  and  he  wanted  to  take  the 
South  American  trade  away  from  her.  That  was  one 
reason  for  insisting  upon  reciprocity,  affording  to  this 
country  the  opportunity  to  offer  bargains  to  peoples 
who  disliked  us  as  a  nation  with  the  intensity  of  per 
sons  who  dislike  a  powerful  neighbor  that  has  protected 
and  befriended  them. 

One  of  the  interesting  features  about  the  McKinley 


46         From  Harrison  to  Harding 

bill  was  the  surprise  it  gave  to  those  people  who  thought 
the  tariff  was  to  be  reduced.  During  the  preceding 
campaign  the  orators  had  proclaimed  that  the  tariff 
"must  be  revised  by  its  friends,"  which  almost  every 
body  supposed  to  mean  that  it  would  be  reduced,  but 
in  such  limited  degree  as  to  be  still  protective.  There 
was  a  growing  surplus  in  the  Treasury  which  seemed  to 
trouble  statesmen  at  that  time,  and  it  was  to  be  cured 
by  a  tariff  revision.  The  McKinley  idea  was  to  reduce 
the  revenue  by  raising  rates.  It  had  that  effect,  and 
it  also  reduced,  and  in  fact  wiped  out,  Republican 
majorities. 

There  were  few  dramatic  scenes  in  connection  with 
the  tariff  bill.  One  of  these  developed  an  interesting 
personal  story.  Tom  Carter  of  Montana  was  Speaker 
Reed's  friend,  and  therefore  fortune's  favorite.  As  a 
new  member,  he  was  given  a  chairmanship  during  his 
first  term,  something  very  rarely  done  in  Congress. 
Carter  wanted  one  thing  in  the  tariff  bill  and  he  wanted 
it  very  much.  That  was  a  tariff  of  $30  a  ton  on  all  lead 
ores  whether  coming  in  with  other  minerals  or  other 
wise.  Leading  the  fight  for  this  duty,  he  one  day 
charged  down  the  aisle  into  the  area  in  front  of  the 
Speaker  and  from  one  arm  he  flung  a  roll  of  petition  up 
the  Democratic  aisle  and  from  the  other  arm  a  like  peti 
tion  up  the  Republican  aisle,  and  raising  both  hands 
aloft  he  shouted: 

"Sixty  thousand  miners  delving  in  the  bowels  of  the 
mountains  to  make  this  nation  richer  and  more  prosper 
ous  ask  for  this  legislation!  Dare  you  deny  them?" 


Tariff  Always  a  Political  Issue      47 

Well,  he  won  his  fight  and  the  next  morning  lo  and 
behold!  there  was  no  mention  of  Carter  in  any  of  the 
papers.  I  did  not  notice  it  until  the  receipt  of  the 
western  papers  which  were  so  very  much  interested  in 
lead  tariff  and  which  contained  no  mention  of  the  vic 
tory  Carter  had  won;  this  was  a  rather  conspicuous 
omission  because  many  Republicans  were  against  him 
and  he  had  secured  support  on  the  Democratic  side. 
On  inquiry  I  learned  that  Carter  was  under  boycott  by 
the  Associated  Press. 

After  the  close  election  contest  in  Montana  in  1889, 
there  were  all  sorts  of  conflicting  claims  and  the  many 
charges  of  fraud  and  corruption  which  follow  a  close 
contest  where  considerable  money  has  been  spent. 
That  election  had  cost  the  Montana  money  kings 
something  like  a  million  dollars.  On  his  way  to  Wash 
ington,  Carter  had  been  interviewed  at  Chicago  and 
asserted  that  the  Republicans  had  won  and  would  elect 
the  Senators,  and,  going  further,  he  said  the  impression 
that  the  Democrats  were  the  victors  had  been  created 
by  false  reports  sent  out  by  the  Associated  Press  which 
was  controlled  in  Montana  by  Democratic  newspapers. 
Grim  old  William  Henry  Smith  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Associated  Press  at  that  time  and  he  gave  orders  that 
thereafter  Carter's  name  should  not  be  mentioned. 

Nothing  will  kill  a  man  politically  so  quickly  as  a 
newspaper  boycott  of  that  kind.  I  told  Carter  that 
he  was  in  bad,  but  we  were  able  to  fix  it  up.  James  S. 
Clarkson,  then  First  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  and 
interested  in  a  paper  in  Iowa,  was  the  medium  through 


48          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

which  we  worked,  and  after  Carter  had  written  a  letter 
of  explanation,  the  boycott  was  lifted. 

During  the  summer  of  1890  there  were  signs  of  un 
rest.  Many  Republicans  in  Congress  did  not  like 
certain  provisions  in  the  tariff  bill.  They  seriously 
objected  even  to  the  limited  subsidy  granted  to  Ameri 
can  ships  which  was  provided  by  a  bill  passed  that  ses 
sion.  There  was  strong  objection  to  the  removal  of 
the  duty  on  raw  sugar,  and  the  substitution  of  a  bounty 
for  American  producers.  The  increase  in  tariff  rates, 
notably  the  high  duty  on  tin  plate,  disturbed  many 
Republicans.  One  man  who  became  prominent  in 
after  years  as  a  Democrat,  John  Lind  of  Minnesota, 
made  a  strong  protest  against  this  duty.  There  were 
Republican  insurgents,  but  they  were  not  strong  enough 
in  either  house  to  effect  any  changes.  The  tariff  bill 
finally  became  a  law  on  the  first  of  October,  and  five 
weeks  later  the  Republicans  suffered  a  crushing  defeat. 

Political  disquiet  was  not  confined  to  one  party. 
There  was  dissatisfaction  manifested  in  various  direc 
tions.  In  1889,  the  Farmers'  Alliance  and  kindred 
organizations  assembled  at  St.  Louis  and  promulgated 
what  might  be  called  a  platform  of  protest.  In  1890, 
the  Ocala  platform  was  adopted  and  put  forth  by  men 
of  both  parties  representing  farmers,  laboring  men,  and 
organizations  which  were  dissatisfied  with  existing  con 
ditions.  It  received  its  name  from  the  town  in  Florida 
where  the  delegates  assembled.  There  were  enough 
prominent  men  of  both  parties  at  Ocala  to  create  in 
terest.  The  platform  adopted  was  considered  so  radi- 


Tariff  Always  a  Political  Issue       49 

cal  as  to  stamp  the  whole  proceeding  as  absurd.  And 
yet,  in  the  light  of  what  has  since  been  enacted  into 
legislation,  the  principles  then  enunciated  do  not  seem 
so  wild.  The  main  features  of  the  Ocala  platform  were : 

The  abolition  of  national  banks  and  the  substitution 
of  legal  tender  treasury  notes,  allowing  national  bank 
notes  in  sufficient  volume  to  carry  on  the  business  of 
the  country  on  a  cash  system;  that  Congress  shall  by 
law  prevent  dealing  in  futures  on  all  agricultural  and 
mechanical  productions ;  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage 
of  silver ;  the  prohibition  of  the  alien  ownership  of  land 
and  the  adoption  of  some  just  plan  by  which  the  gov 
ernment  may  acquire  ownership  in  such  lands,  and  also 
in  lands  held  by  railroad  companies  in  excess  of  their 
actual  needs;  that  taxation,  both  state  and  national, 
shall  not  be  used  to  build  up  one  interest  or  class  at  the 
expense  of  another;  that  all  revenues,  national,  state 
and  county,  shall  be  limited  to  the  actual  necessary 
expenditures  of  the  government  economically  and 
honestly  administered;  that  Congress  issue  sufficient 
fractional  currency  to  facilitate  exchange  through  the 
United  States  mail ;  that  all  means  of  transportation  and 
communication  shall  be  controlled  by  the  United  States ; 
providing  that  liberty  to  control  and  operate  all  lines 
of  railroad  and  telegraph  shall  vest  in  the  government, 
and  if,  after  a  fair  trial  of  this  system,  it  is  found  that  it 
does  not  afford  the  relief  demanded  or  effect  the  reforms 
in  the  management  of  them,  the  government's  owner 
ship  shall  be  complete. 

From  this  small  beginning  grew  the  Populist  party, 
drawing  from  the  Democrats  in  the  South  and  the  Re 
publicans  in  the  North.  At  one  time  it  bade  fair  to 

VOL.  1—4 


50          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

wreck  the  Democratic  party  in  the  southern  states,  and 
was  making  great  headway  in  many  northern  states. 
The  Populist  party  reached  its  zenith  in  1896  when  the 
nomination  of  Bryan  at  St.  Louis,  after  he  had  been 
nominated  by  the  Democrats  at  the  Chicago  conven 
tion,  caused  its  disintegration. 

The  admission  of  new  states  brought  a  contest  from 
Montana,  which  developed  considerable  interest  on 
account  of  the  personality  of  the  men.  Besides,  the 
Senate  makes  a  contest  a  matter  of  tremendous  impor 
tance.  Weeks  of  debate  and  weighty  tons  of  precedents 
are  injected  into  a  question  even  when  it  is  known  long 
in  advance,  in  fact  as  soon  as  the  committee  reports, 
what  will  be  the  outcome. 

Both  parties  claimed  to  have  carried  the  legislature 
in  the  first  state  election  in  Montana  and  each  sent  a 
set  of  Senators.  The  Democrats  selected  Major 
Martin  Maginnis  and  William  A.  Clark.  Maginnis 
had  been  a  Delegate  from  the  Territory  several  terms. 
Clark  was  known  as  a  rich  mine  owner,  but  he  achieved 
much  more  notoriety  several  years  later  when  he  came 
to  the  Senate  with  a  trail  of  charges  and  counter  charges 
about  the  expenditures  of  vast  sums  of  money.  Wilbur 
F.  Sanders  and  Thomas  C.  Power  had  been  selected  by 
the  Republican  branch  of  the  legislature.  Sanders 
had  been  an  attorney  for  the  Vigilantes  and  regaled 
Senators  in  the  cloak  rooms  with  stories  of  X.  Beidler, 
the  Montana  leader  of  the  famous  organization.  Power 
was  a  rich  merchant  who  had  the  reputation  of  being 
what  our  New  England  people  call  "near." 


Tariff  Always  a  Political  Issue       51 

The  contest  was  decided  by  a  strict  party  vote  and 
Sanders  and  Power  were  seated.  But  this  was  not 
done  until  after  Senator  Turpie  of  Indiana,  whose  com 
mand  of  high  class  vitriolic  language  has  never  been 
equalled  by  any  man  of  his  time,  had  paid  his  respects 
to  Power.  He  called  attention  to  a  part  of  the  testi 
mony  in  which  it  was  stated  that  Power  was  willing  to 
pay  $2.50  each  for  votes  in  one  of  the  close  precincts, 
but  would  not  pay  $5.00.  Shaking  his  head  from  side 
to  side,  for  he  had  a  nervous  affection,  the  Indiana 
Senator  rasped  out : 

"Whatever  else  you  may  say  of  this  man  seeking  a 
seat  in  this  body,  you  must  acknowledge  that  he  was 
thrifty." 


CHAPTER  VI 

WESTERN  CONGRESSIONAL  ASSOCIATION 

A  Sectional  Organization  with  a  Brief  Career,  but  a  Hummer  While  it 
Lived  —  Last  of  its  Kind  —  Party  Ties  Stronger  than  Locality  —  A 
Place  for  Stories  of  the  Wonderful  West  in  Frontier  Days. 


•TPHE  Western  Congressional  Association  had  but  a 
•*•  short  life  and  fell  of  its  own  uselessness.  It  was 
sectional  as  regards  East  and  West,  but  it  was  found 
difficult  to  draw  the  line  of  demarcation  between  the 
real  West  and  what  afterwards  became  known  as  "the 
enemy's  country." 

It  is  impossible  to  say  how  the  idea  of  such  an 
association  originated,  but  Fred  Dubois  of  Idaho,  Tom 
Carter  of  Montana,  Mark  Smith  of  Arizona,  Frank 
Pettigrew  of  South  Dakota,  and  John  L.  Wilson  of 
Washington,  were  the  leading  spirits.  Carter,  Petti- 
grew,  and  Wilson  were  the  live  wires  of  the  newly 
admitted  states,  while  Dubois  and  Smith  were  trying  to 
have  their  territories  admitted. 

The  men  representing  the  four  new  states,  who  took 
their  seats  when  Congress  assembled  in  December,  1889, 
found  that  they  had  many  interests  in  common.  The 
Delegates  from  the  territories  were  closely  associated 
with  the  new  members.  They  had  worked  together 
when  all  were  on  the  same  footing,  and  the  Delegates 

52 


Western  Congressional  Association  53 

wanted  the  support  of  the  new  men  to  secure  statehood 
for  their  territories. 

At  first  there  was  talk  of  a  new  state  league,  but  it 
soon  became  apparent  that  all  of  the  vast  region 
beyond  the  Missouri,  or,  particularly,  west  of  the  96th 
meridian,  had  a  common  interest.  That  common  in 
terest  was  silver  and  irrigation.  Not  all  the  men  in 
this  region  were  silver  men,  but  nearly  all  of  them  had 
to  vote  for  silver.  All  were  for  a  government  system 
of  irrigation.  The  public  lands  still  open  to  settlement, 
the  Indian  reservations  and  the  mining  regions  of  the 
country  were  in  this  area.  And,  altogether,  there  was  a 
general  common  interest  in  government  affairs  relating 
to  the  western  half  of  the  country. 

This  common  interest  brought  about  the  formation  of 
the  last  sectional  organization  that  has  been  attempted 
in  Congress.  They  were  no  pikers,  those  western  men 
who  went  behind  the  organization.  Such  men  as 
Leland  Stanford  and  George  Hearst  of  California, 
John  P.  Jones  of  Nevada  and  Watson  C.  Squire  of 
Washington,  didn't  haggle  over  the  cost  of  organizing 
and  maintaining  the  Association.  They  rented  the 
rather  commodious  building  next  to  the  Shoreham 
Hotel  on  I5th  Street  and  furnished  it  well,  and  they 
supplied  it  on  the  expensive  basis  of  a  first  class  club. 
All  members  were  privileged  to  bring  guests,  and  all 
had  the  free  and  easy  manner  that  characterized  the 
section  whence  they  came.  In  the  language  of  one 
of  its  members  the  Association  was  "a  hummer." 

They  elected  Senator  Stanford  president  because  he 


54          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

was  the  best ' '  good  thing ' '  in  sight.  He  didn't  do  much 
presiding;  there  was  a  vice  president  for  that  purpose, 
and  Tom  Carter  was  secretary,  so  all  the  multi 
millionaire  from  the  golden  state  had  to  do  as  president 
was  to  see  that  the  bills  were  paid.  And  he  didn't 
care.  He  was  of  the  West  and  whatever  the  western 
boys  wanted  was  all  right. 

One  of  the  first  things  considered  by  the  men  who 
organized  the  Association  was  its  geographical  extent. 
And,  oh,  how  it  grew  at  the  first  meeting!  Of  course 
everything  in  the  Northwest  from  the  Red  River  of  the 
North  to  the  Pacific  ocean  was  included,  as  well  as  all 
of  the  Pacific  slope,  the  Rocky  Mountain  section,  and 
the  intermountain  region. 

11  There's  just  as  much  reason  for  including  Nebraska 
as  my  own  state,"  remarked  Senator  Pettigrew  of 
South  Dakota,  who  wanted  Charlie  Manderson  a 
member  for  personal  reasons.  And  Nebraska  was 
admitted. 

"Plumb  is  as  good  a  silver  man  as  I  am,"  said  Sena 
tor  Teller  of  Colorado, ' '  and  if  Nebraska  comes  in  there's 
no  reason  why  Kansas  shouldn't. ' '  And  so  Kansas  came 
in. 

"The  Territories  of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico  have 
been  in  from  the  start,"  said  Mark  Smith  of  Arizona, 
"and  certainly  the  struggling  new  Territory  of  Okla 
homa  ought  to  be  a  member."  It  was  so  ordered. 

"That  takes  in  everything  on  a  line  west  of  the  Red 
River  of  the  North  and  the  Missouri,"  remarked  Gil. 
Pierce  of  North  Dakota. 


Western  Congressional  Association  55 

''Except  Texas,"  said  John  Wilson  of  Wash 
ington. 

''Well,  no  one  wants  Texas,"  said  Senator  Sanders 
of  Montana. 

"Why  not?"  asked  Teller,  sharply,  who  had  no  dis 
position  to  see  a  joke  in  serious  affairs. 

"We  ran't  be  sure  of  Texas,"  replied  Sanders. 
"We're  in  doubt  as  to  whether  Texas  is  a  part  of  the 
Union.  She  might  secede." 

"There's  no  better  friend  of  silver  and  irrigation  than 
Senator  John  Reagan  of  Texas,"  shouted  Stewart  of 
Nevada.  "  If  we  want  to  accomplish  anything  we  want 
all  the  strong  men  from  the  South.  I'm  in  favor  of 
taking  in  all  the  silver  men,  like  Cockrell  and  Vest  of 
Missouri ' 

"What's  before  the  meeting  ? "  someone  inquired,  who 
feared  Stewart  when  he  talked  silver. 

"We  might  as  well  drop  sectionalism  if  this  organi 
zation  is  to  do  anything,"  said  Teller,  severely.  "The 
Texas  Senators  and  Representatives  will  make  valuable 
members." 

"So  will  Cush  Davis  of  Minnesota,"  interjected 
Pettigrew;  "and  John  Lind  of  the  same  state  is  as  good 
a  silver  man  as  there  is  in  Congress." 

But  Teller  and  Stewart  had  their  way  and  Texas  was 
added  to  the  Association. 

"It  seems,"  remarked  Sanders,  "that  to  draw  a  line 
on  the  Red  River  of  the  South  would  be  sectionalism, 
but  such  is  not  the  case  in  regard  to  the  Red  River  of  the 
North.  What  is  your  organization,  anyway,  but  the 


56          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

rankest  kind  of  sectionalism  between  the  West  and 
East?'" 

The  objects  and  aims  of  the  Association  were  con 
sidered  at  another  meeting.  It  was  freely  declared  that 
one  object  was  to  promote  irrigation.  That  was  all 
right;  everybody  was  for  it.  Then  several  members 
insisted  that  more  important  than  irrigation  was  silver, 
and  that  started  something  of  a  row,  as  quite  a  few 
men  from  the  West  were  not  silver  men. 

Carter  saw  the  thing  was  going  on  the  rocks  and 
suggested  that  the  members  did  not  have  to  agree  on 
all  subjects,  but  that  they  could  come  together  and 
discuss,  and,  if  possible,  adjust  differences;  that  they 
could  all  work  together  for  their  various  local  needs 
and  be  helpful  to  one  another  without  regard  to  great 
issues  or  partisanship. 

"He's  got  the  right  idea,"  said  Senator  Hearst,  mak 
ing  the  only  speech  of  his  career  in  or  out  of  Congress. 
"It's  this  way:  If  I  wanted  to  get  something  through, 
I'd  go  over  on  the  Republican  side  and  say  to  Stewart, 
there:  'Bill,  get  in  behind  this;  get  your  fellows 
together  and  help  me  get  this  bill  through.'  If  any 
of  you  fellows  wanted  anything,  why  you'd  come  over 
on  the  Democratic  side  and  say  to  me :  'George,  get  in 
behind  this;  round  up  your  fellows  and  have  'em  vote 
right.'  That's  what  this  organization  is  for,  just  as 
Carter  says,  to  help  each  other." 

"Noblesse  oblige,"  murmured  Squire  of  Washington, 
who  always  lived  up  to  the  sentiment. 

But  the  help  which  Senator  Hearst  suggested  could 


Western  Congressional  Association  57 

not  last  on  sectional  lines.  Men  in  New  England  and 
New  York  were  often  more  helpful  than  men  from 
states  in  the  Association. 

It  was  soon  found  that  no  hard  and  fast  alliances  on 
any  question  could  be  made.  In  spite  of  everything, 
party  ties  proved  stronger  than  alliances  on  silver  or 
other  subjects.  Silver  legislation  finally  became  a 
party  issue  and  the  divisions  weakened  the  alliances  in 
the  Association.  There  were  often  strong  party  con 
tests  in  Congress.  No  Democrat  in  those  days  would 
allow  that  there  was  any  good  in  Tom  Reed,  while  men 
like  Pettigrew  and  Carter  believed  in  him  and  were 
his  devoted  friends.  Discordant  notes  were  heard; 
politics  could  not  be  kept  out  of  an  organization  of 
politicians  who  had  political  objects  to  achieve. 

The  Association  tried  to  have  discussion  and  con 
sideration  of  measures,  but  what  dreary  times  they 
were.  Stewart  would  talk  all  of  an  evening  on  silver, 
and  Reagan  would  discourse  for  hours  on  irrigation, 
silver,  interstate  commerce  transportation,  and  other 
topics.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  men  who  were 
driven  out  of  the  Senate  and  House  every  day  by  long- 
winded  speeches  would  spend  their  evenings  listening 
to  the  same  things.  Particularly  was  this  true  of  men 
who  knew  there  were  good  games  going  on  in  one  or 
more  rooms  upstairs,  or  that  a  group  of  good  story 
tellers  were  sitting  around  a  table  where  champagne  was 
fizzing  in  the  glasses  and  fellowship  held  sway. 

The  Association  served  one  purpose,  however.  It 
brought  the  men  together  a  few  times  and  afforded 


58          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

them  an  opportunity  to  take  the  measure  of  each  other 
at  short  range.  It  developed  a  considerable  amount 
of  "dead  wood"  in  the  western  delegations,  and  also 
uncovered  jealousies  between  states  and  statesmen. 

But  best  of  all  were  the  wonderful  stories  of  the  West. 
Senator  Stanford,  in  talking  to  a  small  group,  could 
give  very  interesting  accounts  of  early  days  in  Cali 
fornia.  Jones  of  Nevada  was  a  marvel.  He  had  gone 
to  California  by  way  of  Panama ;  had  lived  up  and  down 
the  state  in  mining  camps  and  had  taken  part  in  the 
developments  of  the  gold  days.  He  was  in  the  early 
rush  to  Nevada  and  knew  everybody  worth  knowing  at 
a  time  when  the  West  was  the  land  pictured  by  Bret 
Harte  and  Mark  Twain.  Jones  was  the  most  fluent 
story  teller  I  have  ever  known  in  Congress.  Stewart, 
who  was  the  last  man  to  talk  with  President  Lincoln  at 
the  White  House  on  that  fateful  April  night  in  1865,  had 
a  fund  of  anecdote  and  reminiscences  when  he  was  taken 
back  to  the  old  days.  Carter  was  a  delightful  story 
teller,  but  better  still  he  had  the  art  of  extracting 
stories  an^  experiences  from  others.  Sanders  had 
lived  in  the  days  and  participated  in  the  activities  of 
the  Vigilantes  of  Montana.  He  made  a  hero  of  X. 
Beidler,  the  leader  of  the  Vigilantes  of  that  state. 

It  is  a  matter  of  sincere  regret  that  a  phonograph 
could  not  have  recorded  the  stories  as  they  were  told 
in  the  rooms  of  the  Western  Congressional  Association, 
or  that  they  could  not  have  been  taken  down  in  short 
hand  and  preserved.  They  would  be  a  rich  legacy 
to  the  literature  of  the  West. 


CHAPTER  VII 

FAMOUS  FORCE  BILL  FIGHT 

Last  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction  Measure — Tension  in  the  Senate — 
Political  Lines  Sharply  Drawn — Gorman  Leads  the  Opposition — 
Why  Edmunds  Left  the  Senate — Return  of  Elkins  to  Public  Life— 
An  Attempt  to  Smash  John  Sherman — Origin  of  the  Term  "Pork" 
— Uncle  Joe's  Admonition  after  the  Defeat  in  1890. 

r\URING  the  summer  of  1890  a  number  of  negroes 
•^  were  seated  in  the  House.  Southern  Democrats 
were  ousted  by  strict  party  votes.  The  discussion  of 
the  cases  had  aroused  a  bitter  partisan  and  sectional 
feeling,  and  it  almost  seemed  as  if  reconstruction  days 
were  again  being  lived  over.  No  doubt  the  party 
feeling  engendered  did  much  to  pass  the  force  bill 
through  the  House,  although  at  first  there  was  Republi 
can  opposition  to  interference  in  election  matters  in  the 
southern  states. 

At  the  head  of  the  Elections  Committee  was  Jonathan 
H.  Rowell  of  Illinois,  an  old  Union  soldier,  an  intense 
partisan,  and  a  firm  believer  in  race  equality.  He  was 
of  the  Ben.  Wade  and  Thad.  Stevens  school.  If  he 
could  have  had  his  way,  he  would  have  seated  every 
negro  who  made  a  contest.  He  took  the  ground  that  if 
there  was  a  majority  of  blacks  in  any  congressional 
district,  it  was  prima  facie  evidence  that  a  negro, 

59 


60          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

if  a  candidate,  should  have  been  elected  in  that 
district. 

Private  John  Allen,  the  wit  of  Tupelo,  Miss.,  in  a 
humorous  speech  tried  to  reason  with  the  grim  old 
Northerner,  by  explaining : 

"The  negroes,"  he  said,  "although  in  a  majority  in 
some  districts  do  not  vote  to  any  great  extent.  They 
do  not  know  how  to  vote  and  in  most  cases  do  not  desire 
to  vote.  Now,  in  most  places  in  our  section  the  white 
men  begin  to  fire  off  shotguns  early  on  the  morning  of 
election  day.  This  is  to  notify  the  blacks  that  it's 
going  to  be  an  entirely  fair  election." 

At  that  time  more  negroes  were  members  of  the 
House — the  result  of  contested  elections — than  before 
or  since.  For  a  few  succeeding  sessions  negroes  were 
returned  from  some  of  the  black  belt  districts,  but  for 
the  past  twenty-five  years  no  negro  has  held  a  seat  in 
Congress. 

For  many  years  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  then  a  member 
of  the  House,  afterwards  elected  to  the  Senate  five  suc 
cessive  times,  was  the  reputed  author  of  the  force  bill 
because  it  bore  his  name.  But  no  one  man  constructed 
that  measure.  A  Republican  caucus  endorsed  the  prin 
ciple  of  Federal  control  of  elections  and  designated  a 
committee  consisting  of  Lodge,  Rowell,  and  Carter  to 
prepare  a  bill.  All  of  them  contributed  to  the  work, 
but  the  teeth  in  it  came  from  a  bill  introduced  by  Row- 
ell.  His  bill  was  crude  in  language,  but  would  have  been 
extremely  effective  if  enacted  into  law  and  enforced. 
After  the  three  men  had  completed  the  draft  of  the  bill, 


Famous  Force  Bill  Fight  61 

it  was  turned  over  to  Lodge  to  be  put  into  proper 
English  and  was  introduced  in  the  House  by  him  and 
referred  to  the  committee  of  which  he  was  chairman. 
It  was  reported  by  him  and  was  in  his  charge  during  its 
consideration  in  the  House. 

In  the  Senate  the  bill  was  in  charge  of  Senator  Hoar, 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections. 
The  fight  in  the  Senate  was  one  of  the  memorable  events 
of  the  closing  days  of  the  Fifty-first  Congress.  Never 
since  that  time  have  party  lines  been  so  tightly  drawn, 
and  as  the  struggle  progressed  party  differences  became 
somewhat  personal.  Friendships  of  long  standing  were 
strained  almost  to  the  breaking  point.  Such  men  as 
Matt  Quay  and  George  Vest,  and  Don  Cameron  and 
Matt  Butler  did  not  allow  the  election  bill  to  interfere 
with  their  personal  relations,  but  neither  Quay  nor 
Cameron  cared  very  much  about  the  election  bill.  They 
were  among  the  eight  Republicans  who  finally  voted  to 
set  it  aside. 

It  was  during  this  period  of  intense  party  strife  that 
an  amusing  incident  occurred.  For  days  and  nights 
there  had  been  continuous  sessions,  Democratic  Sena 
tors  holding  the  floor  or  forcing  roll  calls  to  make  the 
Republicans  keep  a  quorum  of  their  members  within 
reach  of  the  Senate  chamber.  During  one  of  these 
prolonged  sessions  somewhere  about  3  o'clock  A.M., 
when  the  Republicans  were  nearly  all  in  their  cloak 
room  and  in  no  very  amiable  mood,  Senator  Zeb  Vance 
of  North  Carolina  shuffled  along  back  of  the  desks  in 
the  Senate  chamber  and  entered.  He  was  the  first 


62          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Democrat  who  had  been  in  the  Republican  cloak  room 
for  a  long  time.  He  did  not  come  to  make  overtures, 
but  simply  on  a  friendly  personal  mission.  He  began 
by  telling  southern  stories,  for  which  he  was  famous. 
In  illustrating  one  of  them  he  did  a  sort  of  wing  dance 
in  imitation  of  an  old  darky,  singing  at  the  same  time 
a  song  about  "sitting  up  all  night  with  a  yaller 
gal." 

This  was  too  much  even  for  Senator  Hoar  and  a  smile 
beamed  upon  his  Pickwickian  face,  while  the  others 
roared  with  laughter. 

Senator  Arthur  P.  Gorman  of  Maryland  led  the 
opposition  to  the  force  bill  in  the  Senate  and  made  a 
reputation  which  lasted  during  his  life.  He  had  been 
chosen  as  the  Democratic  leader  and  was  one  of  the  few 
men  that  actually  was  a  leader.  He  organized  the 
Democrats,  provided  constant  relays  of  speakers  so  as 
to  keep  the  talk  going,  and  prevented  the  bill  from 
coming  to  a  vote.  He  was  constantly  on  the  watch  to 
see  that  the  Republicans  maintained  a  quorum. 

While  Gorman's  achievement  was  notable,  it  was  not 
surprising.  He  not  only  had  the  solid  support  of  his 
party,  but  he  was  soon  aware  that  there  was  quite  a 
number  of  Republicans  who  wanted  the  bill  defeated, 
but  felt  bound  to  support  it  for  party  reasons. 

Gorman  reached  the  zenith  of  his  political  career  in 
the  force  bill  fight.  Then  he  was  at  his  best.  When  his 
party  was  in  the  majority,  he  took  a  course  on  the 
Wilson  tariff  bill  which  alienated  many  of  his  friends, 
and  it  was  not  until  near  the  close  of  his  life  that  he 


Famous  Force  Bill  Fight  63 

regained  the  popularity  he  had  enjoyed  in  the  Fifty- 
first  Congress. 

A  man  of  medium  height,  well  proportioned,  and  well 
groomed,  he  was  always  a  commanding  looking  figure 
in  the  Senate.  His  smooth,  classical  face  generally  had 
an  ashen  pallor,  which  rather  added  to  his  attractive 
appearance.  That  face  was  absolutely  inscrutable 
when  Gorman  chose  to  make  it  so,  while  at  other  times 
it  would  lighten  with  the  brightest  smile  and  he  would 
be  the  most  affable  man  one  could  meet  Gorman  had 
a  keen  sense  of  humor  and  consequently  had  a  distaste 
and  a  distrust  of  demagogues,  a  fact  that  made  enemies 
for  him  outside  as  well  as  inside  the  Senate;  but  he 
defeated  the  force  bill. 

Zeb  Vance  was  one  of  the  most  lovable  men  in  the 
Senate.  Everybody  was  fond  of  him.  When  the  force 
bill  was  finally  set  aside,  there  was  a  scramble  to  get 
consideration  for  measures  which  had  been  long  delayed. 
Every  Senator  wanted  his  pet  measure  passed.  In  an 
effort  to  arrange  a  program  different  Senators  made  sug 
gestions.  Senator  Pad-dock  of  Nebraska  wanted  the 
Paddock  pure  food  bill  passed,  and  when  he  brought  it 
forward  Senator  Allison  mentioned  the  Conger  lard  bill, 
which  had  been  pushed  through  the  House  by  Conger 
of  Iowa,  and  was  designed  to  regulate  the  manufacture 
of  lard  from  cotton  seed  oil.  Allison's  suggestion  brought 
Vance  to  his  feet. 

''The  Conger  lard  bill  is  dead,"  he  shouted.  "  '  'Tis 
Greece,  but  living  Greece  no  more,  '"he  quoted,  much 
to  the  amusement  of  everybody. 


64          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

The  only  man  who  ever  said  an  unkind  word  of  old 
Zeb  Vance  was  Sanders  of  Montana.  He  was  a  wit 
himself,  and  decidedly  original,  but  often  his  remarks 
were  tinged  with  personal  allusions,  and  like  Tom  Reed 
he  preferred  to  turn  an  epigram  even  if  he  made  an 
enemy,  than  to  leave  it  unsaid  and  maintain  a  friend. 
"Zeb  Vance  a  wit?"  said  Sanders;  "he  is  such  a  wit 
as  a  parrot  might  be.  He  carries  his  wit  around  on  his 
back  like  a  peddler  with  his  pack."  As  Sanders  was 
equally  free  in  his  comments  on  other  Senators,  he  did  not 
make  friends  and  failed  to  acquire  the  standing  in  the 
Senate  that  his  ability  merited.  He  and  Ingalls  were 
very  companionable,  for  Ingalls,  too,  had  a  sharp  tongue 
and  was  not  at  all  particular  upon  whom  he  showered 
cutting  remarks. 

Another  clash  took  place  about  that  time  between 
Senator  Edmunds  of  Vermont  and  Senator  Pettigrew 
of  South  Dakota.  Pettigrew  had  been  rather  bellig 
erent  and  inclined  to  insurgency,  several  times  evincing 
independence  of  regular  Republican  rule.  As  the  South 
Dakota  Senator  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  Edmunds 
took  it  upon  himself  to  discipline  him  and  point  out 
that  new  Senators  ought  to  conform  to  the  traditions 
of  the  Senate  and  give  heed  to  the  counsel  of  the  men 
long  in  service. 

"See  here,"  broke  in  Pettigrew,  hotly;  "I  will  attend 
to  my  own  affairs.  Further  than  that,  if  there  is  to  be 
any  more  of  this  bossing,  enough  Senators  from  the  new 
states  will  go  over  to  the  Democrats  and  we'll  re 
organize  the  Senate,  and  you'll  have  to  pack  up  your 


Famous  Force  Bill  Fight  65 

whiskey  jug  and  get  out  of  that  Judiciary  Committee 
room." 

Edmunds  resigned  the  following  November,  but  it  is 
said  his  determination  to  retire  from  the  Senate  was 
reached  during  the  short  session  in  1891  and  was  caused 
mainly  by  the  influx  of  Senators  from  the  new  states. 
This  is  how  it  happened : 

When  Idaho  was  admitted,  there  was  a  bit  of  fine 
work  arranged  by  Fred  Dubois,  by  which  he  was  elected 
for  the  long  term  beginning  in  March,  while  Shoup  and 
McConnell  were  elected  for  the  first  terms,  taking 
chances  in  the  lottery  for  the  long  and  short  terms  to 
which  Idaho  was  entitled.  McConnell  drew  the  short 
term,  and  as  he  only  had  a  few  weeks  to  serve,  he  hast 
ened  to  make  the  best  of  his  time.  He  was  sworn  in  one 
day  and  the  next  he  stood  up  in  the  middle  aisle  and  in  a 
loud  voice  delivered  his '  'message' '  to  the  American  people. 
While  he  was  talking  Edmunds  entered  the  chamber. 

1  'Who's  that?"  he  asked  another  Senator. 

"  McConnell  of  Idaho,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Is  he  a  member  of  the  Senate  ? ' '  asked  Edmunds. 

"Yes;  sworn  in  yesterday." 

"Sworn  in  yesterday  and  making  a  speech  to-day?" 
incredulously  inquired  Edmunds. 

"That's  what,"  replied  the  other  Senator. 

Gazing  at  the  vociferating  McConnell,  the  Vermonter 
ran  his  fingers  through  his  beard. 

"Sworn  in  yesterday  and  haranguing  the  Senate  to 
day,"  he  repeated.  "Well,  I  guess  it's  about  time  for 
me  to  quit." 

VOL.  I— 5 


66         From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Redfield  Proctor  succeeded  Edmunds  in  the  Senate, 
and  Stephen  B.  Elkins  was  appointed  Secretary  of  War 
by  Harrison.  Elkins  paid  just  as  much  attention  to  his 
office  as  he  had  to  and  continued  his  active  business 
career.  His  private  car  was  always  ready  to  take  him 
anywhere,  to  New  York,  to  West  Virginia,  or  wherever 
else  his  business  called  him.  He  would  rush  from  the 
Department  to  that  car  and  with  his  secretaries  work 
all  the  time  going  and  coming.  He  attended  to  such 
business  as  came  to  him  in  the  War  Department  with 
vigor  and  dispatch,  as  shown  by  one  particular  incident 
which  came  under  my  observation. 

The  people  of  Portland,  Oregon,  wanted  a  railroad 
bridge  across  the  Willamette  River.  The  army 
engineers  reported  against  it  because  it  would  interfere 
with  navigation.  A  delegation,  with  the  President  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  Mayor  as  leaders, 
came  to  Washington  to  have  the  engineers  reversed. 
Accompanied  by  the  two  Senators  and  the  Repre 
sentative  of  Oregon,  they  lined  up  one  morning  in 
Elkins'  office,  the  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Com 
merce  having  a  huge  mass  of  typewritten  sheets  in  his 
hands. 

Elkins  came  bustling  in,  was  introduced  and  cheerily 
greeted  everybody.  When  he  took  his  seat  at  his  desk, 
the  man  with  the  pile  of  manuscript  advanced  and  was 
about  to  begin  reading. 

' '  Hold  on  a  minute, ' '  said  Elkins.  ' '  Let's  get  at  this 
with  a  short  cut.  I'm  a  railroad  man  and  this  is  for  a 
railroad  bridge,  so  I'm  for  you  on  general  principles." 


Famous  Force  Bill  Fight  67 

"But  I  desire  to  present  convincing  arguments,"  said 
the  would-be  speaker. 

"That's  all  right;  I  don't  need  much  convincing/* 
responded  Elkins.  "But  let's  see  where  we  stand. 
You  represent  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  you  are 
in  favor  of  the  bridge.  As  representing  the  City,  Mr. 
Mayor,  you  are  in  favor  of  the  bridge.  You,  Mitchell, 
Dolph,  and  Hermann,  representing  the  state  in  Con 
gress,  are  for  the  bridge."  And  they  all  responded  in 
the  affirmative. 

"That  settles  it;  I'll  order  the  bridge,"  briskly 
responded  Elkins. 

"But  Mr.  Secretary,"  said  the  man  with  the  papers, 
"I  have  here  all  the  facts  and  with  your  permis 
sion " 

"Oh,  I've  all  the  facts  I  want,"  laughed  Elkins. 
"We'll  send  your  papers  down  to  the  engineers." 

Then  he  shook  hands  all  around  and  disappeared  in 
his  private  office. 

To  mollify  the  men  from  Oregon,  who  had  no  oppor 
tunity  to  present  their  arguments,  Senator  Mitchell  gave 
them  a  dinner  at  Chamberlain's,  where  Joe  Blackburn 
regaled  them  with  stories  until  late  the  next  morning. 

John  Sherman  might  be  considered  one  of  the  most 
successful  men  in  politics  if  he  had  achieved  the  one 
great  ambition  of  his  life,  the  Presidency.  As  it  was,  he 
had  his  share.  He  was  constantly  in  office  from  1855 
until  1898 ;  in  the  House,  in  the  Senate,  and  as  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  and  Secretary  of  State. 

Few  men  have  ever  heard  themselves  so  fiercely 


68          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

denounced  as  John  Sherman,  and  yet  he  did  not  allow 
such  criticisms  to  disturb  him.  Senator  Stewart  of 
Nevada  was  the  most  vitriolic  of  all  Sherman's  Senate 
colleagues.  Once  a  group  of  Senators  were  comparing 
notes  and  naming  a  few  of  the  greatest  political  scoun 
drels  they  knew.  Stewart  listened  for  a  time  and  then 
broke  in : 

"What  you  all  say  may  have  merit,  but  when  it  comes 
to  selecting  the  damnedest  scoundrel  in  public  life  I  am 
pledged  to  John  Sherman." 

Stewart  was  a  man  of  intense  prejudices.  Such  men 
as  Harrison,  Cleveland,  Reed,  and  many  of  the  men 
with  whom  he  had  at  one  time  been  on  good  terms,  were 
severely  criticized  by  him  when  he  no  longer  agreed 
with  them. 

I  recall  an  effort  of  John  Kenna  to  add  to  his  fame, 
which  was  at  high  tide  about  that  time.  Kenna 
achieved  such  a  reputation  that  his  statue  stands  in 
the  national  hall  of  fame,  the  old  hall  of  the  House  of 
Representatives.  It  is  necessary  to  add,  however,  that 
John  Kenna  was  once  a  United  States  Senator  from 
West  Virginia. 

Not  long  after  Kenna  entered  the  Senate  he  prepared 
an  elaborate  speech  attacking  John  Sherman.  He 
notified  the  Ohio  Senator  that  he  intended  to  criticize 
him,  so  as  to  give  Sherman  an  opportunity  to  be  present. 
For  three  hours  Kenna  banged  away  depicting  the 
various  machinations  of  Sherman,  his  twisted  public 
trail,  his  winding  political  pathway,  the  changes  of  his 
views,  etc.,  while  the  grizzled  old  man  sat  humped  over 


Famous  Force  Bill  Fight  69 

in  his  seat  without  a  single  emotion  showing  on  his 
features.  When  Kenna  concluded  Sherman  arose  and 
said: 

"I  have  no  doubt  that  all  my  brilliant  young  friend 
has  said  about  my  record  is  true.  I  have  never  taken 
the  trouble  to  ascertain  what  that  record  has  been.  I 
will  say  to  my  young  friend  that  if  he  remains  in  public 
life  as  long  as  I  have  been,  he  will  find  it  necessary  to 
change  his  views  and  opinions  as  times  and  conditions 
change." 

That  was  all,  but  it  was  enough  to  smash  to  smither 
eens  a  great  effort  of  a  powerful  young  statesman. 

In  this  connection  another  Sherman  story  is  interest 
ing.  It  was  on  the  occasion  when  Sherman  had  a  hard 
fight  for  re-election  and  was  nearly  defeated  by  Joe 
Foraker.  After  the  contest  had  been  waged  for  several 
days  one  of  Foraker's  friends,  who  held  the  key  to  the 
situation,  was  persuaded  that  party  harmony  and  future 
success  made  it  necessary  to  leave  Foraker  and  support 
Sherman.  He  went  to  see  the  Senator,  and  with  tears 
in  his  eyes  and  his  voice  choked  with  emotion,  told  the 
old  man  of  the  personal  sacrifice  he  was  making  in  order 
to  preserve  party  harmony. 

"My  young  friend,"  replied  Sherman,  "politics  is  a 
game  of  sacrifice  and  personal  disappointment.  If  you 
remain  in  politics,  you  will  have  to  make  many  sacrifices 
arid  you  will  undergo  disappointments  greater  than  you 
now  feel." 

The  grim  veteran  knew.  The  great  prize  had  always 
eluded  him. 


70          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

It  was  during  the  Fifty-first  Congress  that  the  term 
"pork"  was  first  used  in  connection  with  public  build 
ings,  and  appropriations  for  local  improvements.  That 
was  before  the  thoroughly  organized  system  of  omni 
bus  public  building  bills  made  it  easy  for  nearlyx 
every  city  and  town  to  get  a  building.  Then  each  bill 
was  passed  separately,  and  went  through  on  its  merits  or 
according  to  the  "pull"  which  an  individual  member 
could  work  with  other  members.  It  often  happened 
that  a  man  with  a  public  building  bill  had  to  sacrifice 
his  entire  term  to  that  bill.  He  had  to  trade  with 
everybody  and  dared  not  oppose  any  other  member's 
pet  measure  or  scheme  for  fear  of  creating  opposition  to 
his  own  pet  measure. 

In  the  Fifty-first  Congress  two  days  were  set  apart  for 
the  consideration  of  public  building  bills.  Opponents 
of  these  measures,  led  by  "Watchdog"  Holman,  fought 
them  one  by  one,  but  they  were  passed  in  regular  order. 
The  time  consumed  caused  the  defeat  of  the  bills  low 
down  on  the  list.  Near  the  close  of  the  last  day  Hol 
man  moved  to  adjourn. 

"Don't  adjourn!"  shouted  Tom  Clunie  of  California, 
whose  bill  for  San  Francisco  was  next  on  the  list. 
"Don't  adjourn,"  he  pleaded,  running  down  the  aisle; 
"don't  adjourn  until  I've  got  my  piece  of  pork!" 

And  the  humor  of  the  remark,  also  the  fact  that 
Clunie  was  a  popular  Democrat,  saved  the  day  for  him. 
Holman  was  prevailed  upon  to  withhold  his  motion  to 
adjourn  until  Clunie 's  bit  of  "pork"  was  lifted  from  the 
barrel. 


Famous  Force  Bill  Fight  71 

There  were  many  Republicans  defeated  in  the 
election  of  1890,  but  the  most  prominent  of  all  were 
William  McKinley  and  Joseph  G.  Cannon.  They  were 
the  chairmen  of  the  most  important  committees  in  the 
House,  and  at  the  same  time  members  of  the  Committee 
on  Rules,  and  with  Reed  formed  the  trio  which  con 
trolled  the  House  absolutely.  When  Reed  was  ready 
to  put  through  a  measure  he  usually  ascertained  if  the 
Republicans  of  the  House  were  ready  to  support  him 
and  the  Committee  on  Rules.  Then  they  brought  in 
the  special  rule,  something  that  was  unknown  thereto 
fore,  and  with  it  gagged  the  measure  through  the  House. 

"Mack,"  he  would  say  to  Benton  McMillin,  a 
Democratic  member  of  the  Committee  on  Rules,  when 
the  two  Democratic  members  were  called  in,  "here  is  an 
outrage  McKinley,  Cannon,  and  myself  are  about  to 
perpetrate.  You  will  have  time  to  prepare  your 
screams  and  usual  denunciations.'* 

Then  he  would  hand  them  a  copy  of  the  rule  which  it 
was  proposed  to  bring  forward  when  the  House  met. 

But  two  of  this  mighty  trio  went  down  to  defeat: 
McKinley,  the  author  of  the  tariff  bill  which  bore  his 
name,  and  Cannon  because  of  a  bitter  personal  fight 
made  upon  him  on  account  of  words  spoken  in  debate 
which  were  subject  to  two  constructions. 

McKinley,  Cannon,  and  Tom  Carter  met  at  the  old 
Grand  Pacific  hotel  in  Chicago  after  the  election. 
Carter,  who  had  been  secretary  of  the  Republican  cau 
cus  and  secretary  of  the  campaign  committee,  was 
among  the  defeated.  Being  the  younger  man,  he  made 


72          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

the  first  explanation,  saying  that  he  did  not  want  to  be 
a  candidate,  but  was  forced  to  run ;  that  he  wanted  to 
retire  and  attend  to  his  law  business,  and  was  really 
glad,  personally,  that  he  would  not  have  to  serve 
another  term. 

McKinley  followed  with  the  explanation  that  he  had 
increased  his  vote  200  over  the  last  time  he  ran,  but 
had  been  defeated  because  a  Democratic  county  had 
been  added  to  his  district  by  a  gerrymander.  He  said 
that  he  deplored  the  defeat  of  the  party,  but  upon  the 
whole,  personally,  he  was  glad  to  retire  to  private  life. 

"That's  what  I  tell  all  the  boys,"  said  Cannon,  "but, 
Mack,  don't  let's  lie  to  one  another." 

In  connection  with  explanations  of  defeat,  I  am 
reminded  of  a  remark  by  Private  John  Allen  who  made 
his  first  appearance  following  a  congressional  election 
about  a  week  after  the  session  opened. 

"I  never  want  to  be  about  the  House  the  first  week  of 
the  session  following  an  election  where  the  slaughter 
has  been  large,  '  said  the  famous  wit.  "By  the  end 
of  that  time  the  fellows  who  have  fallen  by  the  wayside 
have  about  finished  telling  everybody  twice  over  how  it 
happened,  and  I  don't  have  to  listen  to  their  explana 
tions.  I  have  never  heard  one  of  them  yet  admit  that 
he  was  defeated  because  he  did  not  get  votes  enough." 

There  was  an  interesting  old  tradition  which  amused 
people  going  to  and  from  Washington  in  the  days  before 
the  new  terminal  station  was  constructed.  At  one 
point  it  was  possible  to  see  the  peak  of  the  Washington 
monument  and  the  head  of  the  Goddess  of  Liberty  on 


Famous  Force  Bill  Fight  73 

the  dome  of  the  capitol  in  line.  Anybody  fortunate 
enough  to  catch  these  points  in  juxtaposition  was  said 
to  be  as  sure  of  success  in  any  undertaking  as  is  the  man 
who  sees  the  new  moon  far  around  over  his  right 
shoulder.  I  knew  one  beneficiary  of  the  charm. 

Gilbert  A.  Pierce,  once  a  newspaper  man  in  Chicago, 
whom  Chester  A.  Arthur  sent  to  Dakota  as  Governor  of 
the  Territory,  became  a  popular  favorite  in  the  state  of 
North  Dakota  and  was  one  of  its  first  Senators.  But 
he  was  unfortunate  in  the  senatorial  lottery,  drawing  a 
term  of  less  than  two  years.  He  was  a  candidate  for 
re-election  and  was  opposed  by  Henry  C.  Hansbrough, 
who  had  been  defeated  for  renomination  to  the  House. 

"I  shall  be  elected  to  the  Senate,"  gleefully  declared 
Hansbrough,  who  had  glimpsed  the  goddess  and  the 
monument  in  line  as  he  left  Washington  for  North 
Dakota. 

Perhaps  he  believed  in  the  omen,  but  Alex.  McKenzie, 
the  boss  of  North  Dakota,  had  more  to  do  with  electing 
Hansbrough  than  any  charm  outside  the  state. 

Gil.  Pierce  would  have  been  a  delightful  Senator,  if  he 
could  have  remained  long  enough  to  have  acquired  the 
Senate  habit. 

I  was  going  to  the  capitol  with  Pierce  one  day  and 
when  we  passed  a  little  hotel  on  the  upper  end  of 
Pennsylvania  avenue,  he  paused  a  moment  and  said: 

"  There  is  a  tragedy  going  on  in  that  house.  Dr. 
Mary  Walker  is  dying  in  there.  Think  of  a  woman  who 
did  so  much  for  the  soldiers  during  the  civil  war,  and 
who  has  become  such  a  prominent  figure  in  the  country 


74          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

by  her  methods  and  brains,  passing  the  last  hours  of  her 
life  in  such  circumstances  and  without  friends.  A  few 
of  us  have  done  what  we  could,  procured  medical 
attendance,  and  in  other  ways  tried  to  make  her  last 
hours  as  comfortable  as  possible,  but  she  has  only  a 
short  time  to  live." 

And  yet  Dr.  Mary  Walker  lived  on  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  and  when  she  died  Gil.  Pierce  had  been  in  his 
grave  twenty  years. 

John  J.  Ingalls  was  a  very  disappointed  man  when 
Kansas  elected  William  A.  PefTer  as  his  successor  in 
1891.  The  Populist  wave  swept  over  Kansas  in  1890 
and  that  party  carried  the  legislature.  Ingalls  believed 
he  would  hold  the  state.  Although  his  every  fiber  was 
of  standpat  material — the  word  had  not  then  been 
coined — yet  he  had  gone  as  far  in  the  progressive  line  of 
those  days  as  a  man  could,  supporting  free  silver  and 
other  doctrines  in  which  he  did  not  believe. 

Ingalls'  confidence  in  his  re-election  and  the  belief  of 
Senator  William  D.  Washburn  of  Minnesota  that  he 
would  be  defeated  led  to  an  unpleasant  incident  during 
the  long  session  of  Congress  previous  to  the  election. 
Washburn  filed  on  Ingalls'  seat;  that  is,  he  made  a 
request,  which  was  recorded  in  the  books  of  one  of  the 
officers,  that  when  the  seat  occupied  by  Ingalls  was 
vacated  it  should  be  assigned  to  him.  This  was  one  of 
the  choice  seats  in  the  Senate,  the  third  from  the  center 
aisle,  in  the  second  row  on  the  Republican  side.  Ingalls 
should  not  have  heard  about  it,  but  he  did,  and  entering 
the  cloak  room  one  day  he  remarked  to  a  group  of 


Famous  Force  Bill  Fight  75 

Senators,  and  in  tones  loud  enough  for  Washburn  to 
plainly  hear  him : 

"What  do  you  think !  Some  damned  skunk  has  filed 
on  my  seat.  The  damned  blackguard  thinks  I  will  not 
be  re-elected.*' 

From  that  time  he  never  spoke  to  Washburn;  not 
even  when  he  returned  after  his  defeat. 

In  the  small  hours  of  March  4,  1891,  Congress  passed 
and  the  President  signed  a  bill  which  was  the  beginning 
of  the  conservation  movement.  A  bill  passed  the 
House  repealing  the  timber  culture  law.  It  contained 
ten  sections.  When  it  passed  the  Senate  it  had  seven 
teen  sections.  It  was  referred  to  a  conference 
committee  and  when  it  emerged  from  that  joint  body 
and  was  sent  to  the  President  it  contained  twenty-four 
sections.  Section  24  was  short  and  seemingly  unimpor 
tant,  yet  it  was  the  biggest  thing  in  the  bill.  It  provided 
that  tracts  of  the  public  domain  might  be  withdrawn 
from  settlement  and  set  apart  as  forest  reserves.  Under 
that  law  all  the  great  forest  reserves  were  created, 
resulting  in  the  far-reaching  conservation  system 
which  has  grown  with  the  development  of  the  country, 
and  over  which  there  has  been  so  much  contention  and 
discussion. 

I  do  not  know  who  was  responsible  for  section  24 
of  that  land  bill.  The  measure  was  in  the  hands  of 
western  men  to  a  large  extent.  I  do  remember  that 
Harrison  and  his  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  John  W. 
Noble,  were  dissatisfied  with  the  bill  as  it  was  first 
presented,  and  the  western  Senators  went  back  and  forth 


76          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

to  the  White  House  during  the  night  in  an  effort  to  have 
it  shaped  up  so  as  to  secure  the  Presidential  approval. 
It  was  during  these  conferences  that  President  Harrison 
was  moved  to  remark,  "This  free  coinage  of  Senators  is 
something  awful." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

LAST  REAL  SPEAKERSHIP  CONTEST 

Bitter  Fight  for  the  High  Office  in  1891 — Crisp  Defeats  Mills— First 
Appearance  of  William  J.  Bryan— Religion  in  Politics— Harrison's 
Break  with  His  Party  Leaders — An  Able  President  with  Curt 
Manners — Did  Not  Use  Patronage  as  a  Club. 

TTHERE  has  been  no  real  contest  for  the  Speakership 
A  of  the  House  of  Representatives  since  1891.  The 
position  of  Speaker  is  not  as  important  as  it  was  before 
the  changes  in  the  rules.  There  is  not  very  much  to 
fight  for  now,  save  the  difference  between  $7,500  and 
$12,000  in  salary.  Time  was  when  the  Speaker  was 
the  second  officer  in  power  in  this  country.  Now  he  is 
the  presiding  officer  of  the  House,  holding  a  place  of 
dignity,  but  lacking  the  strong  control  he  once  exercised 
when  he  had  the  power  of  recognizing  members  to  move 
consideration  of  bills,  was  Chairman  of  the  once  power 
ful  Committee  on  Rules,  and,  most  potent  of  all,  held 
members  under  his  thumb  by  reason  of  his  selection 
of  men  for  committee  assignments. 

The  Fifty-second  Congress,  with  its  tremendous  Dem 
ocratic  majority,  assembled  in  December,  1891,  and 
fought  out  the  last  real  Speakership  contest.  John  G. 
Carlisle,  an  ideal  Speaker,  who  rarely  was  partisan  in 
presiding  over  the  House,  had  been  elected  to  the  Senate, 

77 


78          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

and  Roger  Q.  Mills  of  Texas,  who  had  been  his  floor  leader, 
was  at  the  head  of  the  coterie  that  ran  the  House  under 
Carlisle.  Charles  F.  Crisp  of  Georgia  had  won  his  spurs 
in  the  great  forensic  battle  with  Reed  over  the  counting 
of  a  quorum.  These  were  the  principal  aspirants  for 
Speaker,  withHolman  of  Indiana  and  Springer  of  Illinois 
holding  enough  votes  to  prevent  a  nomination  until 
after  many  ballots. 

All  the  elements  of  discord  were  injected  into  the 
fight.  Such  influence  as  Grover  Cleveland  possessed 
was  used  to  aid  Mills.  The  prestige  which  Senator 
Gorman  had  achieved  in  defeating  the  force  bill  he  used 
in  behalf  of  Crisp. 

Trading  and  dickering,  such  as  rarely  happened  in 
like  contests,  were  features  of  the  fight.  Crisp's 
manager,  Tom  Catchings  of  Mississippi,  did  not  stop  at 
anything  that  would  win.  The  support  of  two  minor 
candidates  was  secured  by  promises  of  chairmanships. 
Springer  became  Chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means 
committee  and  Holman  Chairman  of  Appropriations, 
after  they  had  withdrawn  and  voted  for  Crisp. 

Tom  Reed,  who  was  selected  as  the  minority  leader, 
was  disappointed  over  the  result. 

"Personally,  I  am  glad  to  have  Crisp  Speaker,"  he 
said,  "politically,  I  would  have  preferred  Mills.  I 
think  I  could  have  made  him  throw  his  gavel  at  me 
about  three  times  a  week." 

Reed  well  knew  Mills'  irascibility  and  hot  temper. 
Mills  could  not  get  into  a  political  argument  without 
a  display  of  anger. 


Last  Real  Speakership  Contest      79 

Among  the  young  men  elected  to  the  Fifty-second  Con 
gress  was  William  J.  Bryan  of  Nebraska.  In  the  Speaker- 
ship  fight  he  voted  for  Springer ;  no  doubt  influenced  by 
the  fact  that  Illinois  was  his  own  native  state.  But  he  did 
not  go  over  to  Crisp  with  Springer,  continuing  to  vote 
his  first  choice  on  the  final  ballot.  Bryan  landed  on  the 
Ways  and  Means  Committee,  an  unusual  distinction, 
as  it  is  seldom  that  a  new  man  secures  such  an  important 
committee  assignment. 

Bryan  won  his  reputation  in  a  da}',  speaking  on  one 
of  the  numerous  "popgun"  tariff  bills  which  Springer's 
committee  was  putting  through  the  House  for  the 
purpose  of  embarrassing  the  Republican  Senate.  As  a 
member  of  the  committee,  Bryan  was  given  an 
opportunity  to  make  a  speech  for  an  hour,  but  long 
before  the  hour  expired  he  was  set  upon  by  Republicans 
and  participated  in  a  brilliant  running  debate.  His 
time  was  extended  indefinitely,  for  the  House  had 
discovered  a  man. 

Curiously  enough  his  first  encounter  was  with  John 
Lind,  the  only  Republican  re-elected  in  Minnesota. 
Lind  wanted  to  know  why  cotton  bagging  machinery 
had  been  made  free  of  duty  in  the  bill  while  a  tariff 
was  retained  on  binding  twine  machinery.  Of  course 
this  was  one  of  those  sectional  questions  which  Bryan 
could  not  answer  satisfactorily,  but  he  was  clever 
enough  to  get  along  to  other  subjects  and  draw  the  fire 
of  other  men.  In  after  years  Lind  became  an  ardent 
Bryan  man.  He  bolted  the  Republican  party  in  1896 
on  the  gold  plank;  as  a  silver  Republican  supported 


8o          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Bryan,  and  finally  landed  squarely  in  the  Democratic 
party.  Bryan,  when  Secretary  of  State,  selected  him 
for  a  confidential  mission  to  Mexico. 

Bryan  also  spoke  on  the  money  question  during  his 
first  term,  opposing  state  bank  currency  and  urging 
free  silver  coinage. 

Joseph  W.  Bailey  appeared  in  the  Texas  delegation 
in  the  Fifty-second  Congress.  He  was  young,  southern, 
solemn,  and  constitutional.  He  had  an  obsession  about 
a  quorum,  stating  his  position  as  if  delivering  an  opinion 
from  the  Supreme  bench,  saying  that  he  was  "unwilling 
to  have  even  an  unimportant  bill  pass  the  House  unless 
a  constitutional  quorum  was  present." 

Bailey  made  a  great  deal  of  trouble  as  long  as  he 
persisted  in  having  a  quorum  present,  as  it  often 
happens  that  a  quorum  is  not  in  the  House  when 
unimportant  legislation  is  passed.  There  were 
frequent  roll  calls,  much  to  the  annoyance  of  many 
members.  Finally,  Dave  Culberson  of  Texas  counseled 
Bailey  and  succeeded  in  persuading  him  to  desist. 
Bailey  made  progress  in  the  House  and  became  the 
minority  leader  in  after  years. 

Another  man  whose  star  blazed  for  a  brief  time  in  the 
political  sky  was  Tom  L.  Johnson  of  Cleveland,  the 
self-made  man  and  millionaire,  a  single-taxer,  a  man 
whose  sense  of  humor  always  saved  him  even  when 
he  stood  out  earnestly  for  the  impossible.  Johnson 
had  defeated  Theodore  E.  Burton  in  the  election  of 
1890. 

Contemplating    the    divisions    in    the    Democratic 


Last  Real  Speakership  Contest      81 

House,  Johnson  remarked:  "The  Democrats  of  this 
House  could  all  belong  to  a  club  we  have  in  Cleveland. 
No  man  who  agrees  with  another  on  any  subject  what 
soever  can  remain  a  member.  We  never  have  any 
trouble  and  only  once  have  we  found  members  obnox 
ious  to  the  rule.  There  were  two  fellows  who  agreed 
that  they  both  disliked  Grover  Cleveland  and  they  had 
to  be  expelled." 

Two  remarkable  men  took  their  seats  in  the  Senate 
in  the  Fifty-second  Congress,  David  B.  Hill  of  New  York, 
and  Calvin  S.  Brice  of  Ohio.  It  was  not,  however,  until 
a  later  period  that  they  became  prominent. 

That  the  Populist  party  had  made  extraordinary 
advances  was  shown  by  the  number  of  its  members  that 
was  elected.  In  the  House  they  had  a  party  organi 
zation  with  Tom  Watson  of  Georgia  as  leader.  This 
brilliant,  sorrel-crowned  southerner  was  the  Populist 
nominee  for  Vice  President  on  the  ticket  with  Bryan  in 
1896.  There  also  was  Jerry  Simpson  of  Medicine 
Lodge,  Kansas,  who  remained  for  many  years,  and  as 
long  as  he  was  in  the  House  he  always  could  get  a  rise 
out  of  Nelson  Dingley  of  Maine. 

One  of  the  Populists  was  Kittel  Halvorson  of  Minne 
sota.  His  election  was  one  of  the  unique  occurrences  in 
politics.  The  Democrats  wanted  some  one  to  run  on 
the  Populist  ticket  so  as  to  take  votes  from  the  Republi 
can  candidate.  So  a  job  was  fixed  up  and  Kittel  was 
nominated.  A  committee  waited  on  him  and  found  him 
milking  a  cow  in  his  barn  yard.  He  was  informed  of  his 
nomination  and  asked  to  make  the  race,  but  demurred. 

VOL. I — 6 


82          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

"How  much  will  it  cost  ? "  he  asked. 

He  was  told  that  the  Democrats  would  finance  the 
campaign.  So  he  ran,  and  much  to  the  surprise  of  the 
Democrats  he  was  elected. 

•  He  was  urged  to  run  a  second  time,  but  not  he. 
Kittel  lived  on  his  mileage  and  stationery  account,  and 
in  two  years  salted  away  $10,000  which  he  took  home 
with  him.  It  was  said  that  he  constantly  feared  that 
some  one  would  shake  him  or  stick  a  pin  in  him  and  he 
would  wake  up  back  in  the  barn  yard  milking  the  cow. 
I  never  could  believe  that ;  not  after  I  heard  about  the 
$10,000. 

William  A.  Peffer  of  Kansas  and  John  H.  Kyle  of 
South  Dakota  were  the  first  Populist  Senators.  I 
suppose  Peffer 's  whiskers  will  be  known  much  longer 
than  his  work  in  the  Senate,  though  he  was  a  man  of 
considerable  ability  and  of  a  lovable  character. 

From  time  to  time  religious  issues  develop  and  have  a 
far-reaching  effect  on  politics.  Religion  was  injected 
into  politics  by  the  A.  P.  A.  movement  and  had  an 
important  effect  upon  the  campaign  of  1892.  The 
manner  in  which  the  religious  influence  was  brought 
to  bear  has  never  been  generally  known  and  is  always 
discussed  gingerly  as  if  it  contained  dynamite.  I  see 
no  reason  why  the  facts  should  not  be  plainly  told. 

The  A.  P.  A.  movement  was  well  underway  before 
1892.  It  was  strong  enough  to  force  legislation 
restricting  denominational  education  of  Indian  children. 
For  years  it  had  been  the  policy  of  the  government  to 
maintain  what  was  known  as  contract  Indian  schools, 


Last  Real  Speakership  Contest      83 

the  contracts  being  made  with  churches  to  educate  the 
Indian  children.  All  churches  had  an  equal  oppor 
tunity,  but  the  Catholic  church,  with  its  usual  energy, 
outstripped  the  others  and  had  a  very  large  proportion 
of  the  schools.  The  A.  P.  A.  directed  its  fight  against 
these  contract  schools. 

President  Harrison  had  appointed  as  Indian  Com 
missioner  Gen.  Thomas  J.  Morgan,  a  Union  soldier 
who  had  commanded  a  regiment  in  Harrison's  brigade. 
Morgan  was  a  Baptist  minister  and  a  bigot  in  religious 
matters.  He  took  up  the  matter  of  abolishing  the 
contract  schools  with  vigor.  So  thorough  was  he  in  this 
work  that  priests  and  nuns  who  had  been  teaching  on 
the  reservations  were  sent  away  under  conditions  that 
caused  severe  criticism. 

This  drastic  policy  brought  a  strong  protest  from  the 
Church.  At  one  time  a  number  of  prominent  prelates 
assembled  in  Washington.  They  met  to  consider 
matters  in  connection  with  the  Catholic  University,  but 
called  in  a  body  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  President. 
Not  only  did  they  pay  their  respects,  but  they  protested 
in  vigorous  terms  against  the  methods  of  Commissioner 
Morgan. 

President  Harrison  was  in  a  tight  place.  Morgan 
would  not  resign,  and  if  he  were  pushed  out  it  would 
cause  a  great  deal  of  criticism  by  the  other  denomina 
tions.  Nor  would  Morgan  abate  anything  in  the  policy 
he  had  adopted  toward  the  contract  schools.  Harrison 
had  to  keep  him  in  office. 

There  was  a  wonderful  old  man  about  Washington  in 


84          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

those  days,  Father  Stephan,  a  priest  with  a  long  white 
beard  who  spent  much  time  among  the  Indians  and  was 
zealous  in  the  propagation  of  his  religion  among  them. 
When  Harrison  refused  to  remove  Morgan  and  it  was 
known  that  the  Commissioner  would  continue  his  course, 
Father  Stephan  procured  letters  from  the  prelates. 
These  letters  said  nothing  about  politics  or  the 
approaching  election;  they  simply  commended  Father 
Stephan  to  the  consideration  of  churchmen.  That  was 
enough.  Father  Stephan  did  the  rest,  and  as  he  wras  no 
novice  as  a  politician,  the  result  of  his  work  was  shown 
in  the  returns  from  every  place  he  visited  during  the 
campaign.  He  told  leading  Catholics  what  the  Harri 
son  administration  had  done  in  regard  to  the  Indian 
schools,  and  created  a  spirit  of  hostility  against  the 
Republican  party  which  was  far-reaching  in  its  effect 
upon  the  election. 

Legislation  by  the  states  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin 
about  that  time  was  obnoxious  to  both  Catholics  and 
Lutherans.  These  states,  theretofore  considered  safely 
Republican,  cast  their  electoral  votes  for  Cleveland 
and  sent  Democrats  to  the  Senate. 

William  H.  Taft,  who  was  selected  by  Harrison  as 
Solicitor  General  of  the  Department  of  Justice,  so 
favorably  impressed  the  President  that  he  was 
appointed  to  one  of  the  circuit  judgeships  which  had 
been  created  during  the  Fifty-first  Congress.  He  also 
appointed  Joseph  McKenna  to  one  of  these  positions, 
but  with  great  reluctance.  McKenna  had  served 
several  terms  in  the  House  and  was  a  member  of  the 


Last  Real  Speakership  Contest      85 

Ways  and  Means  Committee.  McKinley  warmly  urged 
his  appointment  as  did  Carter  of  Montana  and  others 
who  were  close  to  the  Administration.  McKenna  was  a 
Catholic  and  the  A.  P.  A.  movement  was  making  itself 
felt  at  that  time,  and  Harrison  was  loath  to  rouse 
further  adverse  comment  upon  his  Administration  or 
offend  any  number  of  people.  Few  men  had  more 
insistent  friends  than  McKenna  and  Harrison  finally 
yielded,  but  in  doing  so  he  did  not  win  the  gratitude  of 
McKenna's  friends.  They  believed  that  religion  should 
not  have  been  considered,  and  further,  the  very  manner 
of  Harrison  in  yielding  was  such  as  to  make  the  men 
sore. 

Generally  the  first  break  which  occurs  between  a 
President  and  his  party  is  over  patronage.  That  was 
the  trouble  with  Benjamin  Harrison  and  his  party 
leaders. 

A  little  group  of  politicians  assembled  during  the 
balloting  in  the  Republican  national  convention  of 
1888.  The  principals  were  Tom  Platt  of  New  York, 
Matt  Quay  of  Pennsylvania,  James  S.  Clarkson  of  Iowa, 
and  W.  W.  Dudley  of  Indiana.  In  that  conference 
it  was  agreed  that  Harrison  should  be  nominated  for 
President.  General  Dudley,  representing  Harrison, 
made  certain  promises,  many  of  them  never  fulfilled. 
Tom  Platt  did  not  become  Secretary  of  the  Treasury; 
Matt  Quay  did  not  name  the  cabinet  member  for 
Pennsylvania,  but  instead  one  of  his  opponents  was 
selected  and  the  patronage  was  practically  taken  away 
from  him.  Clarkson  instead  of  securing  a  cabinet 


86          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

position  or  "something  equally  as  good,"  was  relegated 
to  a  minor  position. 

At  the  Minneapolis  convention  in  1892  all  of  these 
with  the  exception  of  Dudley  were  on  hand  with  their 
knives  out  against  Harrison.  They  could  not  prevent 
his  nomination,  but  the  division  in  the  party  was  so 
pronounced  as  to  indicate  defeat  in  the  election. 

Harrison  was  one  of  those  remarkable  men  who  gave 
the  country  a  good  administration  and  yet  was  rejected 
by  the  people.  Cold,  austere,  aloof,  able,  and  fearless, 
with  absolute  confidence  in  himself,  he  yielded  only 
when  under  great  pressure.  In  the  matter  of  patronage 
he  deferred  to  Senators  because  he  had  been  a  member 
of  the  Senate,  but  he  often  preferred  his  own  judgment 
to  that  of  Senators  and  he  could  turn  down  a  Senator  in 
a  way  to  humiliate  him.  When  Harrison  thought  an 
interview  had  gone  far  enough  he  would  gaze  at  vacancy 
and  drum  with  his  fingers  on  his  desk;  not  a  very 
pleasing  performance  to  a  Senator  or  Representative 
who  had  brought  a  constituent  to  call  upon  the 
President.  No  man  of  prominence  relishes  being 
drummed  out  of  any  place,  and  particularly  in  the 
presence  of  his  friends. 

In  one  contest  over  patronage  a  one-armed  veteran  of 
the  civil  war,  Captain  A.  H.  Reed,  visited  Washington 
to  discuss  appointments  in  the  third  Minnesota  district. 
He  was  granted  an  interview  by  the  President  and 
began  telling  him  about  the  political  conditions,  and 
how  they  might  be  straightened  out  by  Federal 
appointments. 


Last  Real  Speakership  Contest      87 

"Oh,  I  know  all  about  the  political  conditions  up 
there,"  said  the  President,  impatiently;  "much  better 
than  you." 

"Do  you  mean  to  tell  me,"  asked  Reed  incredulously, 
1 '  that  you  know  more  about  the  political  conditions  in  my 
home  district  where  I  have  lived  all  my  life  than  I  do  ? " 

"Certainly,"  replied  the  President,  "you  have  only 
the  narrow  personal  view  and  do  not  comprehend  the 
real  situation." 

"Then  I  have  nothing  more  to  say,"  said  Reed. 
"Good  day,  Mr.  President." 

And  he  stalked  out  of  the  room. 

"He's  a  dommed  icicle,"  he  told  his  friends  when  he 
joined  them  outside. 

He  went  home  and  became  an  anti-Harrison  man 
with  all  the  influence  he  could  exert.  Captain  Reed  was 
only  one  of  many  who  were  frozen  in  the  White  House 
during  Harrison's  administration. 

It  was  said  of  President  McKinley  that  he  could 
refuse  a  man  a  favor,  pin  a  carnation  in  his  button 
hole,  and  dismiss  him  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  the 
visitor  feel  under  great  obligations.  Harrison  had  the 
fatal  gift  of  "doing  the  right  thing  in  the  wrong  way." 
Like  many  Presidents  he  had  demands  made  upon  him 
which  he  could  not  grant,  but  when  he  refused  a  request 
he  did  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  an  enemy,  and  when 
he  granted  a  request  it  was  often  in  a  manner  which  did 
not  inspire  much  sense  of  obligation  on  the  part  of  the 
recipient.  One  of  his  successors  had  much  the  same 
fault,  which  is  conducive  to  unpopularity. 


88          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Harrison  did  nothing  in  a  way  that  could  be 
considered  as  granting  favors,  nor  did  he  ask  favors. 
He  was  one  of  the  Presidents  who  did  not  use  patronage 
as  a  club  to  secure  legislation.  He  did  not  attempt  to 
run  Congress.  During  his  term  Congress  was  an 
important  part  of  the  government  on  its  own  account; 
all  interests  did  not  center  in  the  White  House. 

The  President  was  interested  in  legislation  and 
conferred  with  members  about  subjects  before  Congress. 
But  he  did  not  send  for  Senators  and  Representatives 
and  tell  them  how  they  should  vote,  nor  threaten  them 
with  loss  of  patronage  if  they  did  not  vote  as  he  desired. 
He  did  not  have  bills  drafted  and  submitted  to  him 
before  they  were  presented  to  Congress.  Sometimes 
when  legislation  was  pending  carrying  a  provision  ob 
noxious  to  him,  he  would  send  for  members  interested 
and  tell  them  he  could  not  approve  the  bill  if  it  came 
to  him  in  that  form.  Harrison  consulted  frequently 
with  McKinley  about  the  tariff  bill,  and  he  was  earnest 
in  his  support  of  the  election  bill,  but  he  did  not  use 
patronage  to  secure  votes  for  such  measures.  In  his 
Administration  members  of  Congress  could  not  secure 
patronage  by  becoming  "cuckoos,"  a  species  of  con 
gressional  bird  that  developed  in  later  administrations. 

Although  Harrison  did  not  use  patronage  as  a  club, 
he  became  more  and  more  unpopular  with  the  party 
leaders.  Congressmen,  who  in  after  years  cussed  a 
President  and  obeyed  him,  in  Harrison's  day  cussed 
the  President  and  did  as  they  pleased.  Those  familiar 
with  the  Harrison  administration  may  well  wonder 


Last  Real  Speakership  Contest      89 

whether,  after  all,  a  cajoling  or  a  domineering  President 
is  not  as  popular  as  one  who  keeps  hands  off  and  allows 
Congress  to  be  in  fact,  as  well  as  in  name,  a  co-ordinate 
branch  of  the  government. 

To  some  extent  President  Harrison  exerted  his 
influence  to  prevent  the  enactment  of  a  free  coinage 
law.  Whether  he  would  have  vetoed  free  coinage  if  a 
bill  had  come  squarely  up  to  him  is  not  known.  Tom 
Reed  saved  him  the  necessity  of  deciding  by  defeating 
free  silver  in  the  House.  Silver  was  a  live  question 
during  his  Administration,  in  fact  about  the  most 
important  question  before  Congress;  and  it  continued 
to  be  so  several  years  after  Harrison's  term. 

Harrison  was  not  long  in  office  before  his  opposition 
to  free  silver  caused  a  break  with  the  silver  men  of  his 
party.  Such  strong  advocates  of  free  coinage  of 
silver  as  Teller  and  Wolcott  of  Colorado,  Jones  and 
Stewart  of  Nevada,  Pettigrew  of  South  Dakota, 
Mitchell  of  Oregon,  Plumb  of  Kansas,  and  others  from 
the  West,  were  in  alliance  with  men  from  the  East  who 
had  broken  with  Harrison  over  patronage. 


CHAPTER  IX 

CAMPAIGN  OF  1 892 

A  Chief  Executive  Can  Renominate  Himself  and  Write  the  National 
Platform— $75,000  in  a  Little  Black  Bag — Last  of  the  Elaine 
Plumes  and  Pompons — Cleveland  Wins,  His  Followers  Singing 
"Four  More  Years  of  Grover" — Harrison  and  His  Defeat. 

VERY  President  has  been  able  to  control  the 
national  convention  of  his  party.  There  has  been 
but  one  exception  in  the  period  of  which  I  am  writing, 
and  that  was  when  the  silver  men  took  possession  of  the 
Democratic  party  in  1896. 

Occasionally  a  President  has  difficulty  in  dominating  a 
convention,  and  his  renomination  is  somewhat  in  doubt, 
as  was  the  case  with  Harrison  in  1892  and  Taft  in  1912. 
The  divisions  among  Republicans  on  both  these 
occasions  forecast  defeat  in  the  elections.  A  divided 
party  cannot  win  a  Presidential  election. 

Harrison  entered  the  campaign  in  1 892  with  apparent 
confidence,  though  why  he  or  his  friends  could  have 
had  any  hope  of  success  is  beyond  my  comprehension. 
Democratic  victories  in  the  elections  of  1890  as  in  1910 
showed  that  the  political  pendulum  was  swinging 
toward  that  party. 

Harrison  was  without  a  manager  for  the  convention  in 
1892.  It  was  not  thought  ethical  to  have  a  member  of 

90 


Campaign  of  1892  9* 

his  Cabinet  on  the  ground.  The  big  fellows  who 
brought  about  Harrison's  nomination  in  1888  were 
against  him  in  1892.  The  choice  for  manager  fell  upon 
Thomas  H.  Carter  of  Montana.  He  had  been  de 
feated  for  re-election  to  Congress  in  1890  and  had 
been  appointed  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land 
Office. 

Before  Carter  consented  to  take  charge  at  Minne 
apolis  he  had  a  conference  with  the  President.  In  his 
suave,  convincing  way  he  told  Harrison  that  he  would 
accept  the  responsibility  if  he  could  have  with  him  an 
older  man  of  experience  and  standing,  and  suggested 
Philetus  Sawyer,  the  wealthy  and  venerable  Senator 
from  Wisconsin.  Sawyer  was  sent  for  and,  being  an 
ardent  Harrison  man,  undertook  the  duty. 

On  their  way  to  Minneapolis  Carter  suggested  to 
Sawyer  that  expenses  might  be  incurred  at  the  conven 
tion  ;  that  he  himself  was  in  no  position  to  meet  anything 
like  an  extraordinary  outlay,  particularly  if  the  opposi 
tion  distributed  money  among  the  southern  delegates. 

"Just  so,"  remarked  Sawyer. 

They  stopped  at  Milwaukee,  and  at  a  bank  in  which 
Sawyer  was  largely  interested  the  Senator  drew  out 
$75,000  in  various  denominations  and  had  it  packed  in 
a  little  black  satchel. 

"In  case,"  he  remarked  as  they  left  the  bank. 

That  little  black  bag  was  tossed  under  the  bed  in 
Sawyer's  rooms  and  remained  there  unopened  during 
the  convention.  The  opponents  of  Harrison  had  no 
money  to  spend  on  southern  delegates  and  the  Presi- 


92          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

dent's  friends  were  able  to  hold  their  men  with  promises 
of  patronage. 

In  order  to  make  these  pledges  Carter  had  to  have 
assurances  which  Harrison  did  not  want  to  authorize. 
One  day,  talking  by  telegraph  over  the  direct  wire  to  the 
White  House,  Carter  said:  "We  are  here  to  do  serious 
business  in  a  serious  way.  It  is  necessary  that  some 
person  be  authorized  by  the  President  to  make  promises 
in  his  name  in  order  to  meet  the  inroads  which  are  being 
made  by  the  opposition."  After  some  parley  Harrison 
granted  the  permission,  and  E.  C.  Rathbone  of  Ohio, 
afterwards  known  to  fame  in  Cuba,  was  authorized  to 
make  promises  of  patronage  where  necessary. 

Carter  engineered  a  move  at  that  convention  which  I 
never  saw  equaled  but  once.  He  rounded  up  in  a  hall 
the  entire  Harrison  strength,  a  majority  of  the  con 
vention.  Every  Harrison  delegate  was  present  or 
accounted  for.  The  strange  feature  was  that  the  cau 
cus  was  kept  secret  for  many  hours.  Pettigrew  of 
Dakota  turned  a  similar  trick  at  a  convention  in  the 
old  territorial  days. 

The  Old  Guard  which  had  nominated  Harrison  in  1888 
and  were  fighting  him  in  1892  twisted  and  turned,  but 
could  make  no  headway.  In  the  last  extremity  they 
gave  McKinley  half  their  strength.  McKinley  was 
there  as  a  Harrison  delegate  and  it  was  hoped  he  might 
be  caught  by  the  bait  and  prevent  Harrison's  nomin 
ation  on  the  first  ballot.  McKinley  refused  to  pull 
Elaine  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire  and  voted  for  Harrison, 
although,  under  the  leadership  of  Governor  Foraker, 


Campaign  of  1892  93 

the  other  Ohio  delegates  voted  for  McKinley.  In  two 
subsequent  conventions,  Foraker  placed  McKinley  in 
nomination  for  President,  but  he  was  not  at  all  keen  for 
him  any  of  the  time. 

Having  at  that  time  charge  of  the  convention  report 
for  the  Pioneer  Press,  and  feeling  sure  that  Harrison 
would  be  nominated,  I  said  so  without  equivocation. 
These  assertions  appeared  under  blazing  headlines 
every  morning.  The  anti-Harrison  men,  James  S. 
Clarkson  in  particular,  said  the  paper  was  unfair  and 
prejudiced. 

When  Harrison  had  been  nominated  on  the  first 
ballot,  I  stepped  down  to  where  Clarkson  stood  with 
the  Iowa  delegation.  I  was  naturally  rather  satisfied, 
but  after  looking  at  his  face  I  had  no  desire  to  spring 
"I-told-you-so"  on  him,  and  merely  remarked  that  I 
believed  in  writing  political  situations  as  I  saw 
them. 

"My  boy,"  he  said,  kindly,  "it  is  all  right;  we  had 
nothing  but  a  rope  of  sand ;  we  did  not  have  a  candidate 
until  two  days  before  the  convention  met.'* 

He  referred  to  the  fact  that  until  Blaine  resigned  from 
Harrison's  Cabinet,  he  did  not  permit  anyone  to  say  he 
was  a  candidate. 

Clarkson  gazed  around  the  convention  hall.  The 
plumes  and  pompons  which  had  given  brilliant  color 
to  the  various  Blaine  demonstrations  were  being 
removed.  Clarkson  looked  sadly  after  them. 

"It  is  the  last  time  we  shall  ever  see  them,"  he  said. 
"For  five  successive  conventions  I  have  fought  for 


94          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Blaine.  Do  you  realize  what  it  means  to  me  to  see  the 
end — and  without  success?" 

That  man  Blaine  had  a  way  of  making  men  who  came 
within  his  influence  his  steadfast  supporters. 

Long  before  the  Democratic  convention  assembled 
in  1892,  it  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that  Grover 
Cleveland  would  be  nominated  a  third  time  for  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States.  On  account  of  the  prospects 
for  success  in  the  election  that  Fall  there  were  other 
aspirants,  among  the  most  notable  David  B.  Hill  of 
New  York  and  Arthur  P.  Gorman  of  Maryland.  Hill 
started  too  early  and  Gorman  too  late.  A  "snap 
convention"  was  held  in  February  by  the  Hill  ma 
nipulators  and  the  entire  New  York  delegation  was  tied 
up  for  the  Senator.  Hill's  friends  tried  to  get  delegates 
in  the  South  and  did  capture  a  few,  among  them  the 
Virginians. 

But  no  other  candidate  had  any  show  against  Cleve 
land.  He  had  not  been  badly  beaten  in  1888;  in  fact, 
the  election  had  been  very  close.  The  Republicans 
were  quarreling  and  divided,  and  it  was  easy  to  see  that 
the  Democrats  could  win  by  naming  Cleveland.  All  of 
the  former  Cleveland  office  holders  were  enlisted  in  his 
behalf  and  exerted  every  effort  to  secure  Cleveland 
delegates. 

Before  the  convention  met,  and  while  the  delegates 
were  assembling  in  Chicago,  I  had  a  fleeting  interview 
with  Senator  Gorman,  which  showed  his  political 
wisdom.  "By  going  in  and  taking  certain  delegates 
who  would  leave  Cleveland  and  support  me  I  could 


Campaign  of  1892  95 

prevent  his  nomination  on  the  first  ballot,"  said  Gor 
man.  "But  what  good  would  that  do  me?  Even  if  I 
could  prevent  Cleveland's  nomination,  it  is  certain  that 
his  friends  would  be  so  bitter  towards  me  that  they 
would  never  support  me,  and  as  between  Hill  and 
Cleveland  I  prefer  Cleveland. 

' '  But  there  is  a  deeper  question  involved.  The  two- 
thirds  rule  is  still  maintained,  but  it  should  not  be  used 
save  to  prevent  the  nomination  of  an  entirely  unfit  man. 
There  are  about  two-thirds  of  the  delegates  for  Cleve 
land.  If  a  little  more  than  one- third  of  the  convention 
holds  out  and  prevents  his  nomination,  the  majority 
will  take  matters  in  hand  and  abrogate  the  two-thirds 
rule.  I  am  not  going  to  be  a  party  to  force  any  action 
of  that  kind." 

"But  the  real  fact,  Senator,"  I  suggested,  "is  that 
you  are  not  going  to  pull  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire  for 
Dave  Hill?" 

"That  is  your  inference,"  he  replied,  with  his  bland 
smile. 

Gorman  never  was  near  enough  to  the  Presidency  to 
sour  his  disposition. 

There  were  few  high  lights  in  the  convention.  One 
was  the  speech  of  W.  Bourke  Cockran  who  was  forced 
to  place  Hill  in  nomination  at  about  2  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  while  the  -old  wigwam  on  the  Lake  front 
leaked  from  a  pouring  rain  and  the  loose  flooring  almost 
floated  away.  Everybody  was  in  ill  humor,  but  the 
Cleveland  men  would  not  consent  to  an  adjournment. 
One  sentence  of  Cockran 's  speech  stands  out  in  my 


96          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

recollection.  "Cleveland,"  he  said,  "is  a  popular  man 
every  day  in  the  year  except  one;  that  is  election 
day." 

How  the  Cleveland  men  howled  and  hissed ! 

Then  Senator  John  W.  Daniel,  Virginia's  great  orator, 
while  seconding  the  nomination,  was  howled  down  and 
could  not  proceed  until  Bourke  Cockran  mounted  the 
platform  and  thundered  forth  this  mighty  defiance : 

"If  New  York's  candidate  and  his  supporters  cannot 
receive  fair  treatment,  New  York  will  withdraw  from 
this  convention!" 

That  was  really  fine.  It  had  teeth  in  it.  Thereafter 
Daniel  was  allowed  to  proceed.  The  Cleveland  men 
did  not  want  to  lose  the  despised  Hill-Tammany  crowd 
when  election  came,  and  if  Cockran 's  threat  had  been 
carried  out  New  York  would  have  been  very  doubtful 
in  November. 

William  C.  Whitney,  who  had  been  Cleveland's 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with 
bringing  about  the  nomination  of  Cleveland  for  a  third 
time.  He  spent  large  sums  of  money  securing  delegates. 
There  were  rumors  that  money  was  spent  rather  freely 
among  certain  uninstructed  and  unpledged  delegates 
at  the  convention.  Near  the  close  of  the  ballot  for 
President,  a  row  broke  out  among  the  delegates  from 
Indian  Territory,  as  some  of  them  claimed  they  had  not 
received  all  that  had  been  promised.  At  that  time  the 
votes  of  the  Territory  were  needed  to  make  two-thirds 
majority.  A  Whitney  agent  was  soon  among  the  dis 
putants  and  everything  was  arranged  in  a  satisfactory 


Campaign  of  1892  97 

manner.     Cleveland  had  the  necessary  two-thirds  on 
the  first  ballot. 

One  interesting  feature  of  the  convention  was  the 
banker  looking  "cheer-leader"  of  the  Pennsylvania 
delegation,  who  on  every  possible  occasion  sprang  up 
and  had  Pennsylvania  lead  in  the  chorus : 

«<^    ty^  Grover,  Grover, 

/  ,.  \o  *       Four  more  years  of  Grover; 

> 

v 


\ 
r  \t '  Out  they  go ;  in  we  go ; 

Then  we'll  be  in  clover. 


As  the  whole  Cleveland  crowd  would  join  in  the  song, 
many  a  Tammany  yowl  and  Hill  demonstration  was 
silenced. 

On  account  of  the  division  in  the  Republican  party, 
Cleveland's  election  was  assured  from  the  time  the 
nominations  were  made.  Big  Business  was  behind  him 
and  there  was  no  end  of  campaign  money  furnished  to 
the  national  committee. 

President  Harrison  could  not  understand  his  defeat. 
The  only  personal  talk  I  ever  had  with  him  took  place 
after  the  election.  He  attributed  the  defeat  entirely 
to  the  strike  in  Homestead  where  Pinkertons  shot  down 
striking  laboring  men.  He  said  that  his  Administration 
had  been  made  unjustly  to  bear  the  blame  for  that 
occurrence,  and  every  labor  camp  in  the  country  had 
been  led  to  believe  that  Harrison  and  the  Republican 
party  were  responsible  for  the  deaths  of  workingmen. 

It  did  not  seem  to  occur  to  him  that  he  had  made 
many  enemies  by  his  method  of  dealing  with  prominent 

VOL.  I — 7 


98          From  Harrison  to  Harding 

politicians  and  his  manner  of  treating  those  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact.  He  did  not  seem  to  know  that  his 
Indian  Commissioner  had  cost  him  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  Catholic  votes;  that  the  people  resented 
the  tariff  increases  in  the  McKinley  bill ;  that  in  spite  of 
general  prosperity  there  was  a  great  deal  of  unrest 
throughout  the  country. 

Carter  had  made  such  a  successful  manager  at  the 
convention  that  he  was  asked  to  take  charge  of  the  presi 
dential  campaign,  not  as  chairman  of  the  committee, 
but  as  secretary,  while  some  one  more  prominent  was 
to  be  the  figurehead  chairman. 

"I  am  not  going  to  become  a  professional  secretary," 
he  said. 

And  after  canvassing  the  situation  Harrison  chose 
Carter  as  chairman.  Carter  did  the  best  he  could, 
but  no  one  could  have  won  that  campaign.  On  one 
occasion  Matt  Quay,  who  had  won  the  close  campaign 
in  1888,  visited  the  headquarters  in  New  York.  As  he 
was  leaving,  he  was  asked  by  the  newspaper  men  what 
he  thought  of  the  situation. 

"It's  going  to  be  the  most  one-sided  election  since 
1872,"  replied  Quay,  as  he  stepped  into  a  cab  and  drove 
away. 

And  it  was  not  until  he  had  gone  some  distance  that  it 
drawned  upon  one  of  the  reporters  that  Quay  had  not 
said  which  side. 

After  the  election  a  newspaper  man  went  to  see 
Carter  in  the  well-nigh  deserted  headquarters  and  asked 
if  he  had  anything  to  say. 


Campaign  of  1892  99 

"No;  nothing  for  publication,"  he  replied.  Gazing 
dreamily  out  of  a  window,  he  continued : 

"A  fellow  died  in  this  hotel  the  other  day.  He'd 
been  here  a  long  time  and  was  known  to  almost  every 
body.  I  heard  the  manager  giving  orders  regarding  the 
disposition  of  the  body.  'Have  him  boxed  up,'  he 
said.  'Bring  the  casket  up  by  the  freight  eleva 
tor  and  take  it  down  the  same  way.  There  is  noth 
ing  so  disturbing  to  people  as  a  funeral  about  the 
place. ' ' 

And  Carter  rubbed  his  chin  whiskers  with  a  far-away 
look  in  his  eyes. 

The  effect  of  the  election  on  the  country  was  immedi 
ate  and  something  of  a  shock.  While  there  was  no 
reason  for  a  man  of  good  political  judgment  to  think 
that  Harrison  could  be  re-elected,  it  was  a  great  surprise 
to  see  the  large  majority  the  Republicans  had  in  the 
Senate  wiped  out  and  that  body  turned  over  to  the 
Democrats.  California,  Delaware,  Kansas,  Nebraska, 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  North  Dakota,  and  Wisconsin 
elected  Democratic  Senators  in  place  of  Republicans, 
while  in  Montana,  Washington,  and  Wyoming  no  party 
had  a  majority  in  the  legislatures  and  vacanies  oc 
curred  as  the  result  of  deadlocks.  In  these  states  the 
former  incumbents  were  Republicans. 

For  the  first  time  since  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War 
the  Democrats  had  secured  control  of  both  legislative 
branches  of  the  government  and  the  Presidency  and 
were  in  a  position  to  put  their  ideas  into  laws.  At  all 
other  times  when  the  Democrats  were  in  seeming  as- 


ioo        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

cendancy  they  lacked  control  of  one  of  the  departments 
necessary  to  enact  legislation. 

Naturally  the  first  view  of  the  situation  was  that  the 
Democrats  would  put  into  law  all  that  they  had  been 
clamoring  for  during  the  time  they  were  in  the  minority. 
That  sent  a  chill  down  the  spine  of  the  country,  especi 
ally  that  portion  of  it  interested  in  tariff-protected 
industries.  The  thought  of  what  was  contained  in  the 
several  "pop-gun  "  tariff  bills  passed  in  the  Fifty-second 
Congress  gave  the  protected  industries  great  alarm. 

The  cause  of  the  panic  which  began  in  1893,  at 
tributed  by  the  Republicans  to  the  Democratic  policies 
and  by  the  Democrats  to  the  legislation  of  the  Republi 
cans,  will  always  be  a  matter  of  party  dispute.  I  once 
heard  Senator  Dolliver,  when  asked  about  that  panic 
and  its  causes,  answer : 

"I  never  attributed  the  panic  of  1893  to  the  tariff 
enacted  by  the  Democratic  party  in  1894." 

And  that  sounds  reasonable,  but  the  facts  are  that  the 
depression  began  and  was  caused  to  a  large  extent 
by  the  uneasiness  of  industrial  business  over  what 
might  happen  to  the  tariff  when  the  friends  of  protection 
were  no  longer  in  a  position  to  prevent  adverse 
legislation. 

It  is  a  fact  that  during  the  closing  days  of  the  Har 
rison  administration  preparations  were  made  for  a 
bond  issue.  The  succeeding  Cleveland  administration 
issued  bonds  and  used  the  proceeds  to  defray  the  ex 
pense  of  the  government.  The  necessity  for  raising  this 
money  was  due  to  the  mistaken  policy  of  the  Republi- 


Campaign  of  1892  ior 

cans  in  enacting  a  tariff  so  high  as  to  keep  out  imports, 
taking  the  duty  off  sugar  and  giving  a  bounty  to  sugar 
producers.  But  there  was  also  a  great  falling  off  in 
importations  when  it  was  known  that  the  Democrats 
had  control  of  the  Government  and  would  largely 
reduce  tariff  duties.  Importers  held  off  to  get  the 
advantage  of  the  reductions ;  buyers  of  all  kinds  of  goods 
affected  by  the  tariff  withheld  purchases  awaiting  lower 
prices;  there  was  a  cessation  of  orders  for  all  kinds  of 
supplies,  and  a  stagnation  began  which  developed  into 
a  business  panic.  This  was  accentuated  by  the  attack 
upon  the  silver  purchase  law  and  the  general  scare 
about  financial  conditions. 

Benjamin  Harrison  was  blamed  for  the  defeat  of  the 
Republican  party  in  1892,  but  he  was  not  to  blame 
further  than  the  fact  that  his  personality  drove  men 
away  from  him  and  made  them  indifferent  as  to  his 
re-election.  He  was  defeated  because  the  people  were 
dissatisfied  with  the  Republican  legislation  of  the  Fifty- 
first  Congress,  principally  the  McKinley  tariff  act, 
under  which  there  had  been  a  very  great  increase  of 
prices  to  consumers.  Harrison  had  been  elected  on  the 
battle  cry  that  the  tariff  must  be  revised  by  its  friends. 
It  was  supposed  that  this  meant  friendly  reductions,  but 
the  McKinley  law  increased  duties. 

Harrison  was  a  pleasant  man  in  the  White  House  so 
long  as  his  visitors  left  politics  and  appointments  alone. 
When  business  of  that  kind  was  mentioned  he  con 
gealed  immediately.  He  was  affable  to  callers  as  long 
as  they  talked  on  subjects  remote  from  appointments. 


FYom  Harrison  to  Harding 

He  seemed  to  have  a  vigorous  antipathy  to  those  who 
sought  office  or  those  who  wanted  positions  for  their 
friends.  He  did  not  like  advice  of  any  kind  and  never 
accepted  very  much  until  his  nomination  for  a  second 
term  was  in  danger. 

Harrison  was  a  strict  churchman.  He  never  missed  a 
Sunday  at  a  Presbyterian  church  and  those  whom  he 
saw  regularly  at  service  rose  in  his  estimation.  So 
strict  was  he  in  regard  to  Sunday  observance  that  he 
would  not  start  a  minute  before  12  o'clock  on  Sunday 
night  when  going  on  a  long  journey.  The  train  would 
be  made  up  and  waiting,  all  arrangements  had  to  be 
made  by  the  railroad  employees  on  Sunday,  but  the 
President  would  not  leave  the  White  House  until  after 
the  midnight  hour. 

President  Harrison  had  difficulty  from  the  beginning 
of  his  Administration  on  account  of  the  attempted 
dominance  of  the  Blaines.  Secretary  Elaine  knew  his 
place, but  he  had  political  promissory  notes  outstanding, 
and  every  effort  he  made  to  procure  offices  for  his  friends 
showed  his  lack  of  influence  with  the  Administration  of 
which  he  was  premier.  Elaine  tried  to  make  the  best  of 
it,  but  Mrs.  Elaine  could  not  so  easily  accept  the  fact 
that  they  were  in  second  place  at  best. 

Harrison  retired  from  the  Presidency  a  very  much 
disappointed  man.  But  he  was  more  disappointed  with 
the  people  than  himself,  for  he  believed  that  they  had 
voted  under  a  misapprehension.  He  lived  to  see  his 
Administration  appreciated  and  his  party  regain  power. 
Those  who  saw  him  in  the  later  years  found  that  time 


Campaign  of  1892  103 

had  changed  his  character,  and  when  away  from  the 
cares  and  responsibilities  of  office  he  was  much  different 
from  the  austere  and  cold-blooded  man  we  had  known 
as  President  of  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  X 
CLEVELAND'S  SECOND  TERM 

Selects  a  Strong  Cabinet— A  Stickler  for  Secrecy— " Bissell  Talks'  — 
Reverses  Harrison's  Hawaiian  Policy — The  Unpopular  Bond  Issue 
— Thurber  Private  Secretary — John  Barrett's  First  Appearance — 
President  Cleveland  Opens  the  World's  Fair. 

V Y/HEN  he  went  into  the  White  House  a  second  time 
"  Grover  Cleveland  selected  a  very  strong  Cabinet. 
He  took  Walter  Q.  Gresham  off  the  circuit  bench  for  his 
Secretary  of  State.  Gresham  had  held  two  Cabinet 
places  under  Chester  A.  Arthur.  John  G.  Carlisle,  who 
was  made  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  had  been  Speaker 
of  the  House.  Hoke  Smith,  one  of  his  fellow  members, 
said  Carlisle  was  a  great  intellectual  machine,  a  man  of 
tremendous  analytical  power.  When  a  problem  was 
presented  to  him,  he  applied  himself  to  its  solution  with 
the  sole  object  of  reaching  a  correct  conclusion,  whether 
or  not  the  result  was  in  accord  with  his  wishes. 

Carlisle  had  been  Speaker  three  terms,  and  upon  the 
death  of  James  B.  Beck  was  elected  to  the  Senate.  He 
was  at  once  given  a  place  on  the  Finance  Committee, 
but  he  did  not  remain  long  enough  in  the  Senate  to  show 
his  qualities  a?  a  Senator  before  Cleveland  chose  him 
for  head  of  the  Treasury  Department.  When  he  was 

appointed,  there  were  rumors  that  an  attack  was  to  be 

104 


Cleveland's  Second  Term          105 

made  upon  him,  and  that  all  those  old  stories  belonging 
to  a  date  when  Carlisle  had  been  a  slave  of  habit  and 
occasionally  committed  grave  indiscretions  were  to  be 
revived  and  published  with  a  view  of  discrediting 
Cleveland's  Cabinet. 

Carlisle's  friends  in  the  Senate  forestalled  the  attack 
by  tendering  the  new  Secretary  a  superb  banquet,  which 
was  attended  by  every  Senator  who  was  able  to  be 
present.  Vice  President  Stevenson  presided  and  Sen 
ator  Charles  F.  Manderson  of  Nebraska,  who  had  been 
the  Republican  President  pro  tern.,  was  the  toastmaster. 
Carlisle  was  given  a  great  ovation  and  the  dinner  ac 
complished  just  what  was  intended.  It  was  a  vote  of 
confidence  on  the  part  of  the  Senate  without  regard  to 
party  lines.  From  that  time  little  was  said  about  the 
indiscretions  of  the  great  Kentuckian. 

Richard  Olney  was  one  of  the  best  lawyers  that  ever 
held  the  office  of  Attorney  General,  and  when  he  suc 
ceeded  Gresham  as  Secretary  of  State,  Judson  Harmon 
took  his  place  at  the  head  of  the  Department  of  Justice. 
Wilson  S.  Bissell  and  William  L.  Wilson  were  succes 
sively  Postmaster  General;  Hillary  A.  Herbert,  Secretary 
of  the  Navy;  Hoke  Smith,  an  aggressive  young  southern 
lawyer,  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  succeeded  by  David 
R.  Francis,  when  Smith  decided  to  stand  by  Bryan ;  J. 
Sterling  Morton,  a  solid  Democrat  from  Nebraska,  was 
Secretary  of  Agriculture. 

Daniel  S.  Lament  was  to  Cleveland  what  no  other 
man  in  any  Cabinet  has  been  to  any  President.  He  was 
Cleveland's  private  secretary  during  the  first  Adminis- 


io6        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

tration,  but  as  Secretary  of  War  he  was  more  than  a 
private  secretary  or  a  confidential  companion.  He  was 
Cleveland's  most  trusted  adviser  and  was  the  custodian 
of  Presidential  secrets.  He  was  also  the  means  of 
communication — the  connection  between  Cleveland 
and  the  big  business  men  of  the  country,  to  whom 
Cleveland's  conservative  nature  turned  in  most  emer 
gencies.  Lamont  in  some  respects  filled  the  place  of 
William  C.  Whitney  in  Cleveland's  first  Administration. 

Dan  Lamont  was  a  great  aid  to  Cleveland  in  his 
policy  of  secrecy.  Cleveland  did  not  like  talk  and 
discussion  about  administration  affairs.  Lamont  was 
with  him  in  that  regard,  for  Lamont  was  secrecy  personi 
fied.  Only  once  was  he  caught  off  his  guard  when  he 
said  that  "Gen.  Miles  is  a  newspaper  soldier."  That 
was  the  only  thing  that  escaped  him  during  his  four 
years  in  the  War  Department.  Cleveland  disliked 
to  have  Cabinet  members  talking  about  their  depart 
ments  or  appearing  in  interviews.  I  had  an  amusing 
experience  in  this  connection. 

Every  man  on  the  Associated  Press  in  those  days  was 
requested  to  turn  in  "early  morning  copy,"  stories  that 
could  be  sent  out  when  the  wires  opened  and  used  in 
early  editions  of  the  afternoon  papers.  One  day  after  I 
had  been  chatting  with  the  Postmaster  General,  I  wrote 
a  story  about  the  aims  and  intentions  of  that  official 
and  used  quotation  marks  rather  freely.  It  was  not 
sent  out  for  a  day  or  two,  and  finally  appeared  in  the 
Evening  Star  on  a  day  when  the  Cabinet  met,  and  Cleve 
land  had  given  the  members  a  dressing  down  for  talk- 


Cleveland's  Second  Term          107 

ing  and  appearing  in  the  papers  with  all  kinds  of 
interviews. 

When  I  went  to  the  Postoffice  Department  that  after 
noon  I  was  told  by  half  a  dozen  employees  that  the 
Postmaster  General  wanted  to  see  me.  I  went  to  his 
office  and  he  began  roaring  at  once.  He  was  in  a  tower 
ing  rage  and  it  was  some  time  before  I  found  out  what 
he  was  driving  at.  He  picked  up  a  copy  of  the  Star 
and  shook  it  at  me,  then  showed  me  a  quarter  of  a 
column  story  under  the  heading,  "Bissell  Talks." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  interviewing  me?"  he 
shouted.  "Don't  you  know  Cabinet  members  must 
not  be  interviewed?" 

"It's  harmless,"  I  said;  "you  didn't  say  anything  of 
consequence." 

"That's  not  it!"  he  shouted.  "Look  at  it!  'Bis- 
sell  Talks ! '  '  Bissell  Talks ! '  Damn  it ! " 

And  then  I  laughed,  and  he,  being  a  good  man  weigh 
ing  300  pounds,  calmed  down,  smiled  and  told  me 
where  the  trouble  lodged. 

"Perhaps  he  won't  see  it,"  he  sighed,  "but  don't  do  it 
again." 

"Three-fourths  of  the  time  at  Cabinet  meetings  was 
occupied  by  a  discussion  of  foreign  questions,"  Hoke 
Smith  told  me.  "The  purely  domestic  matters  Cleve 
land  took  up  with  members  of  the  Cabinet  in  whose 
departments  they  belonged." 

"Grover  Cleveland,"  said  this  same  admirer,  "be 
lieved  the  Constitution  was  one  of  the  greatest 
documents  ever  written.  And  so  do  I.  I  doubt 


io8        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

whether  the  amendments  have  improved  it.  Cleveland 
opposed  anything  new,  but  when  once  convinced  that 
new  propositions  were  right  he  held  to  them." 

"Cleveland  considered  all  great  questions  with  his 
chosen  advisers." 

Two  acts  soon  after  Cleveland  became  President  the 
second  time  made  him  unpopular.  One  was  the  bond 
issue  and  the  other  was  in  regard  to  Hawaii.  As  to  the 
bond  sale  it  was  shown  that  the  Harrison  administration 
was  getting  ready  to  issue  bonds  before  Cleveland 
entered  the  White  House.  The  manner  in  which  the 
bonds  were  disposed  of  at  private  sale  caused  the  sever 
est  criticism,  as  the  syndicate  made  a  handsome  profit 
by  handling  them. 

Cal.  Brice  made  a  diagram  which  he  showed  to  his 
fellow  Senators. 

"This  inner  circle  with  four  dots,"  he  explained, 
"represents  Benedict,  Stetson,  and  two  others.  They 
got  the  bonds  at  par.  In  the  next  circle  are  eight  dots 
representing  the  fellows  who  got  them  at  108.  Outside 
you  see  numerous  dots  representing  the  general  public 
upon  whom  the  bonds  were  unloaded  at  112.  It  was  a 
beautiful  scheme.  I'm  sorry  I  was  not  one  of  the 
four." 

President  Cleveland  was  in  great  haste  to  reverse 
one  policy  of  his  predecessor.  Five  days  after  his 
inauguration,  he  withdrew  from  the  Senate  the  treaty 
which  had  been  negotiated  by  President  Harrison 
providing  for  the  annexation  of  Hawaii  to  the  United 
States.  The  new  born  Republic  of  Hawaii  had  received 


Cleveland's  Second  Term         109 

material  assistance  from  the  United  States  Navy,  just 
as  did  another  sudden  Republic  ten  years  later.  Queen 
Liliuokalani,  the  Kanaka  ruler,  was  dethroned  and  a 
new  government  placed  in  power. 

Walter  Q.  Gresham,  who  might  have  been  President  if 
Harrison  had  not  defeated  him  for  the  Republican 
nomination  in  1888,  was  vindictive  enough  against 
his  old  competitor  to  leave  the  circuit  bench  and  become 
the  premier  in  a  Democratic  Cabinet  in  order  to  reverse 
one  of  Harrison's  pet  schemes.  He  savagely  attacked 
the  Hawaiian  policy  of  the  Harrison  administration,  and 
carried  his  feelings  to  the  extent  of  restoring  the  Queen 
and  bolstering  up  the  worn-out  dynasty  with  American 
force. 

No  diplomatic  act  had  created  such  a  flurry  in  years. 
It  was  the  cause  of  much  comment,  some  of  it  very 
severe.  There  was  a  feature  of  ridiculousness  in  the 
whole  proceeding,  and  the  Gridiron  Club  made  a  bur 
lesque  of  the  incident  which  greatly  incensed  Cleveland. 

Our  Government  spread  its  wings  diplomatically  that 
year.  Up  to  that  time  all  foreign  envoys  from  the 
United  States  were  designated  as  ministers,  and  only 
ministers  represented  foreign  governments  in  this 
country.  Congress  passed  a  law  providing  that  a 
minister  from  this  country  accredited  to  a  foreign 
government  should  be  raised  to  the  rank  of  ambassador 
whenever  that  country  raised  its  minister  to  equal  rank. 
England  was  the  first  country  to  act  under  this  law. 
Sir  Julian  Pauncefote,  then  representing  Great  Britain 
at  Washington,  was  made  an  ambassador.  Thomas  F. 


no        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Bayard,  our  minister  to  Great  Britain,  became  the  first 
ambassador  from  the  United  States  to  a  foreign 
country. 

One  of  the  new  ambassadors  was  Baron  Fava,  of  Italy, 
who  up  to  that  time  had  been  dean  of  the  Diplomatic 
Corps,  but  Sir  Julian's  earlier  designation  as  ambassador 
gave  him  the  precedence.  Baron  Fava  was  an  interest 
ing  character,  and  was  "near"  in  all  matters  pertaining 
to  expenditures.  His  home  and  household  cost  him 
little  and  he  never  made  any  great  display.  The  State 
Department  uses  a  distinctive  kind  of  paper  for  its 
diplomatic  correspondence.  Usually  it  is  quite  gener 
ous,  and  notes  to  embassies  and  legations,  when  occupy 
ing  only  a  few  lines,  are  sent  on  double  sheets,  the  last 
two  pages  of  which  are  blank.  Baron  Fava  would 
carefully  divide  these  blank  sheets  from  the  State 
Department  notes  and  write  his  replies  upon  them. 
The  State  Department  officials  could  easily  recognize 
their  own  paper  when  it  was  thus  returned. 

Mr.  Cleveland  appointed  Henry  T.  Thurber  as  his 
private  secretary.  The  office  had  not  then  been 
dignified  by  the  title  Secretary  to  the  President.  Thur 
ber  was  a  Michigan  lawyer,  a  right  clever,  well-meaning 
man,  but  without  knowledge  of  public  men  or  conditions 
in  Washington.  Soon  after  he  was  installed  in  office 
E.  G.  Dunnell  of  the  New  York  Times  called  upon  him. 
Dunnell  was  an  old  line  Democrat,  one  of  the  few 
Washington  correspondents  on  intimate  terms  with 
Cleveland,  and  a  man  of  great  force  and  dignity. 

"Oh,"  exclaimed  Thurber,  when  Dunnell  had  in- 


Cleveland's  Second  Term          1 1 1 

troduced  himself;  "I  suppose  you  have  come  around  for 
little  items  for  your  paper.'* 

Dunnell,  who  had  a  keen  sense  of  humor,  grimly  told 
the  story  on  himself. 

On  another  occasion  Thurber  telephoned  to  P.  V. 
DeGraw,  Superintendent  of  the  United  Press,  saying 
that  he  had  a  piece  of  news  for  him.  DeGraw  had 
travelled  over  the  country  with  Cleveland  during  his 
first  Administration  and  knew  him  well.  He  at  once 
went  to  the  White  House  thinking  there  must  be  some 
thing  important  coming  when  the  Superintendent  was 
requested  to  get  the  story.  He  went  direct  to  Thurber's 
room. 

"Ah,  glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  DeGraw,"  affably  le- 
marked  the  private  secretary.  "I  have  appointed 
Arthur  Simmons  as  my  door  deeper  and  you  are  the 
first  man  to  get  the  news." 

Simmons  was  a  North  Carolina  negro  as  black  as  the 
ace  of  spades. 

But  Thurber  learned  as  he  remained  at  the  White 
House,  and  very  often  was  accommodating  to  those 
who  knew  him.  I  have  in  mind  one  occasion  when  he 
was  of  material  assistance. 

I  was  at  that  time  correspondent  of  the  St.  Paul  Pio 
neer  Press.  St.  Paul  was  about  to  give  James  J.  Hill 
a  magnificent  testimonial  for  what  he  had  done  as  an 
empire  builder  in  the  Great  Northwest.  The  paper 
wanted  a  letter  from  Cleveland  commending  Hill,  which 
could  be  reproduced  just  as  it  was  written,  and  which 
was  to  be  published  on  the  day  of  the  celebration. 


ii2        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

When  I  first  made  inquiries  at  the  White  House  about 
getting  such  a  letter,  the  veteran  O.  L.  Pruden,  who 
had  been  on  duty  for  time  unknown,  and  was  assistant 
secretary,  shook  his  head  from  side  to  side  and  said  that 
it  was  impossible;  that  it  was  without  precedent;  no 
President  had  ever  done  any  such  thing;  and  I  don't 
know  what  else.  But  I  told  Thurber  that  I  wanted  to 
present  the  matter  to  the  President  personally  and  see 
if  I  could  not  convince  him  that  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  to  do.  Thurber  made  the  appointment  for  me 
and  Cleveland  consented,  after  I  told  him  what  was 
wanted  and  the  occasion. 

Cleveland  wrote  the  letter  to  Hill.  He  first  wrote  it 
out  in  his  own  hand,  but  having  to  make  an  inter 
lineation  he  had  it  copied  in  typewriting.  I  tried  to  get 
his  permission  to  publish  it  interlineation  and  all,  but  he 
said  it  did  not  look  like  good  workmanship. 

Early  in  1893  Jonn  Barrett  made  his  first  appear 
ance  in  Washington.  He  was  a  Vermonter  by  birth,  a 
self-made  man,  who  had  worked  his  way  through  col 
lege.  Soon  after  his  graduation  he  went  to  Oregon  and 
became  a  reporter  on  a  Portland  paper.  After  Cleve 
land's  inauguration  he  came  to  Washington  with  a 
number  of  other  Oregon  Democrats,  and  they  all  waited 
patiently  for  the  plums  to  fall.  They  visited  the  Wash 
ington  office  of  the  Oregonian  frequently  to  read  the 
news  from  home  and  give  me  information  of  their  doings 
and  prospects,  which  I  telegraphed  to  the  Oregonian.  At 
first  they  stayed  at  good  hotels,  but  as  the  weeks  length 
ened  into  months  they  adopted  the  plan  of  other 


Cleveland's  Second  Term          113 

office-seekers  and  sought  cheap  rooms  and  cheap 
restaurants. 

Barrett  furnished  the  greater  part  of  the  news  and  I 
used  his  name  quite  frequently.  Finally  I  received  a 
telegram  from  Frank  Carle,  the  managing  editor,  who 
could  be  irascible  at  times,  and  knew  Barrett  as  a  cub 
reporter.  "Say  nothing  more  of  this  man,"  it  read, 
"he  is  of  no  consequence  whatever." 

A  few  days  later  Barrett  was  appointed  Minister  to 
Siam.  He  heard  the  news  at  the  little  restaurant  where 
the  Oregon  men,  who  still  lingered  in  Washington,  were 
dining.  The  man  who  was  designated  that  particular 
night  to  invest  three  cents  in  the  Evening  Star  was  a 
little  late,  and  when  he  arrived,  said : 

"John,  you've  landed;  I  congratulate  you." 

"Let  me  see,"  said  Barrett,  reaching  for  the  paper. 
And  there  it  was  in  plain  reading  matter  among  the 
appointments  of  that  day.  Barrett  left  the  table  and 
walked  toward  the  door. 

"Hold  on,  John,"  said  one  of  the  men,  "you're  not 
going  to  let  this  spoil  your  dinner,  are  you?" 

"I  scarcely  think,"  said  Barrett,  as  he  paused  for  a 
moment,  "that  it  comports  with  the  dignity  of  the 
Minister  to  Siam  to  be  dining  in  this  place  and  in  this 
company." 

And  he  stalked  out  leaving  the  others  almost  petrified. 

Grover  Cleveland  pressed  the  button  which  opened 
the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago  in  1893, 
and  by  that  act  came  near  winning  undying  fame.  For 
many  years  there  had  been  a  strip  of  uncompleted  frieze 

VOL.  1—8 


ii4        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

inside  the  dome  of  the  capitol.  The  frieze  represents  in 
paintings  important  events  in  the  history  of  the  country, 
beginning  with  the  discovery  of  America,  and  carried  on 
to  the  finding  of  gold  in  California. 

There  was  space  for  one  more  picture,  and  several 
attempts  had  been  made  to  complete  the  frieze.  The 
next  great  event  after  the  discovery  of  gold  was  the 
Civil  War,  but  the  southerners  have  always  been  able  to 
prevent  a  picture  of  the  surrender  at  Appomattox  being 
placed  in  the  group  and  the  northerners  would  never 
consent  to  a  Civil  War  scene  representing  an  indecisive 
engagement,  such  as  the  battle  between  the  Monitor  and 
the  Merrimac. 

In  1893,  a  bright  intellect  conceived  the  idea  that  a 
picture  of  Grover  Cleveland  pressing  the  button  open 
ing  the  World's  Exposition  would  make  a  fitting  con 
clusion  to  the  train  of  historical  episodes,  from  the 
discovery  of  America  to  the  celebration  of  the  4OOth 
anniversary  of  that  great  achievement.  But  before  any 
action  could  be  taken  on  the  suggestion,  Congress  went 
through  the  silver  fight.  After  that  Cleveland  could  not 
have  received  commemoration  as  a  dog  catcher.  He 
was  never  popular  with  Republicans  and  the  silver 
Democrats  in  Congress  hated  him  with  all  the  intensity 
of  men  who  split  with  their  party.  And  that  idea  of 
completing  the  frieze  went  glimmering. 


CHAPTER  XI 

REED  DISCOVERS  BRYAN 

Nebraska  Orator  Considered  Worth  While  by  the  Man  from  Maine — 
Foresight  of  Reed  Justified  as  Bryan  Develops — Repeal  of  the 
Silver  Purchase  Law — Long  Filibuster  in  the  Senate  Fails — Bryan 
Leads  Forlorn  Hope  in  the  House — Silver  Repeal  Legislation  Has 
Far-Reaching  Political  Effect. 

TTOM  REED  picked  Bryan  as  a  coming  man  before 
the  Nebraska  orator  had  completed  his  first  term 
in  the  House  of  Representatives.  Reed  did  not  say 
that  Bryan  was  worth  while  or  predict  anything  for  him 
in  the  future,  but  by  taking  notice  of  him  in  his  first 
term,  the  Republican  leader  indicated  that  he  considered 
this  new  member  as  a  man  of  possibilities. 

Reed  had  to  be  constantly  on  his  guard  to  avoid  de 
bates  with  " little  fellows,"  men  who  thought  they  had 
accomplished  something  if  they  had  been  in  a  "tilt  with 
Reed."  Tom  Reed  generally  selected  his  antagonists. 
He  liked  a  "foeman  worthy  of  his  steel."  He  liked  to 
debate  with  men  of  ability  and  standing.  Not  often 
did  he  go  out  of  his  way  to  notice  any  man,  but  he 
seemed  to  look  upon  Bryan  as  one  of  the  coming  Demo 
crats  of  the  country. 

Near  the  end  of  his  first  term  Bryan  became  somewhat 
prominent  in  the  House  as  the  opponent  of  a  bill  favored 
by  his  party  leaders.  It  was  nearly  a  month  bef  01  e  Cleve- 

"5 


n6        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

land  was  inaugurated  a  second  time,  and  in  the  Demo 
cratic  House  a  bill  was  pushed  which  provided  for  the 
repeal  of  the  silver  purchase  law,  the  compromise  silver 
law  enacted  by  the  Republicans  over  the  protest  and 
vote  of  every  Democrat  in  Congress.  After  Cleveland 
was  elected  and  his  policy  regarding  money  became 
known,  the  free  silver  men  saw  that  the  silver  purchase 
act  was  their  last  anchor;  that  when  it  was  repealed 
there  would  be  an  end  to  the  white  metal  as  money. 
Bryan  was  opposed  to  the  repeal  bill  and  had  spoken 
about  true  Democracy  standing  for  silver,  making  a 
speech  which  attracted  the  attention  of  the  former 
Speaker. 

"I  can  sympathize  with  the  gentleman  from 
Nebraska,  Mr. Bryan,  "  said  Reed,  at  the  close  of  a  short 
speech  which  he  made  on  the  merits  of  the  bill.  "He 
has  been  in  the  habit  of  listening  to  the  shoutings  of  the 
Democratic  party,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  in 
favor  of  free  silver  and  what  they  call  the  'good  of  the 
people!'  Well,  he  finds  now  that,  in  power,  even  the 
Democratic  party  has  got  to  obey  the  everlasting  laws 
of  common  sense.  When  they  are  in  the  minority  they 
can  throw  their  limbs  about  in  all  sorts  of  contortions; 
they  can  look  any  way  they  think  beautiful. 

"But  when  they  come  into  power  they  have  got  to 
act  according  to  the  eternal  verities,  and  that  is  going 
to  be  a  great  shock  to  him  on  every  occasion.  He  is 
going  to  see  the  leader  of  the  House  quail  on  the  subject 
of  free  trade.  He  is  going  to  see  'patriots'  all  around 
him  operating  as  some  of  them  are  going  to  operate  to- 


Reed  Discovers  Bryan  117 

day,  and  I  beg  of  him  to  summon  to  his  assistance  that 
stoicism  which  his  countenance  indicates,  in  order  to 
help  him  in  his  very  mournful  future." 

In  view  of  Bryan's  three  defeats  for  the  Presidency 
those  last  words  seem  almost  prophetic. 

At  other  times  Reed  engaged  Bryan  in  debate,  show 
ing  that  he  thought  well  of  his  ability.  It  occasionally 
happened  that  when  Reed  ignored  or  declined  a  con 
troversy  with  a  man  he  considered  of  little  account,  the 
member  would  say  in  the  cloak  room,  "Big  Tom  Reed 
was  afraid  of  me."  Such  a  remark  would  not  be  re 
peated,  for  it  only  brought  jeers  from  Democrats  who 
had  been  long  associated  with  Reed.  They  knew  that 
he  feared  no  man  at  any  time  or  any  place,  and  in 
debate  he  was  more  than  a  match  for  any  man  in  the 
House. 

One  day,  long  after  the  silver  bill  had  passed,  Reed 
and  Bryan  had  a  running  debate  on  the  tariff.  That 
evening  one  of  Reed's  New  York  friends  asked  him  how 
his  speech  on  the  tariff  was  received. 

"All  right,"  replied  Reed,  "until  that  young  man 
Bryan  began  asking  questions,  and  I  lost  control  of  my 
audience.  It  ceased  to  be  a  discussion  of  a  great  sub 
ject  and  became  an  exchange  of  questions  and  answers, 
quips  and  jests." 

Grover  Cleveland  and  a  Democratic  Congress  had 
been  elected  on  the  tariff  issue,  but  Cleveland  called  a 
special  session  of  Congress  in  August,  1893,  to  repeal 
the  silver  purchase  law.  The  big  financial  interests  of 
the  country  were  opposed  to  the  inflation  of  the  cur- 


n8        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

rency  which  was  going  on  at  the  rate  of  $4,500,000  a 
month  by  the  purchase  of  silver  bullion  and  issue  of 
silver  treasury  notes  in  the  same  amount.  They  also 
insisted  that  the  purchase  of  silver  and  inflation  of  the 
currency  was  the  cause  of  the  depression  and  panic  then 
prevailing.  The  real  cause  of  the  panic  of  that  time  has 
been  a  disputed  political  question,  but  the  silver 
question  was  the  universal  subject  of  discussion. 

Along  in  the  summer  the  financial  men  began  to  urge 
Cleveland  to  call  an  extra  session.  An  important 
group  went  to  Washington  and  saw  the  President  at  the 
White  House  in  the  evening.  They  were  insistent  upon 
an  extra  session  for  the  repeal  of  the  silver  purchase  law. 
Cleveland  demurred.  Like  some  other  Presidents,  he 
did  not  have  much  use  for  Congress.  He  was  author 
of  the  expression  about  "having  Congress  on  my 
hands."  He  was  more  vigorous  in  expressing  his  views 
than  his  successors  who  have  disagreed  with  the 
legislators. 

"Who  can  tell  what  the  damned  scoundrels  will  do 
when  we  get  them  here?"  he  asked. 

"We  have  had  a  canvass  made  of  the  Representa 
tives,"  was  the  reply,  "and  we  are  sure  of  a  good 
majority  for  repeal  in  the  House.  The  trouble  is 
with  the  Senate,  where  there  is  a  majority  for  free 
silver." 

"I  can  take  care  of  the  Senate,"  responded  Cleve 
land  ;  "they  are  a  lot  of  damned  old  patronage  brokers." 

The  extra  session  was  called.  Cleveland  was  right 
in  one  particular.  The  use  of  patronage  did  win  over 


Reed  Discovers  Bryan  119 

enough  silver  Democrats  to  insure  a  majority  for  repeal 
in  the  Senate. 

The  bill  for  the  repeal  of  the  silver  purchase  law 
was  introduced  in  the  House  by  William  L.  Wilson  of 
West  Virginia.  At  that  session  Speaker  Crisp  had  no 
promises  to  fulfill  on  account  of  his  election,  for  he  was 
the  unanimous  choice  of  his  party  for  a  second  term. 
He  chose  Wilson  for  Chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means 
Committee  in  place  of  Springer,  and  made  Joe  Sayres 
of  Texas  Chairman  of  Appropriations  in  place  of  Hoi- 
man.  These  changes  served  to  emphasize  the  trade 
made  two  years  before  when  Crisp  defeated  Mills.  The 
choice  of  Wilson  made  him  floor  leader  and  he  had 
charge  of  the  bill  he  had  introduced.  He  was  assisted 
by  such  men  as  the  two  Breckinridges,  Bynum,  Caruth, 
Catchings,  Outhwait,  McCreary,  Gates,  Turner,  Demo 
crats  of  prominence  at  the  time,  all  of  whom  had  voted 
for  free  silver  in  the  Fifty-first  Congress.  In  fact,  the 
reversal  of  the  position  of  fifty  or  sixty  other  Demo 
crats  on  the  subject  of  silver  was  one  of  the  interesting 
features  of  the  session.  At  least  that  number  sup 
ported  the  repeal  bill,  although  they  had  been  either 
vigorously  or  passively  for  free  silver  only  three  years 
before.  Many  of  them  asserted  that  they  were  still 
earnestly  for  free  coinage  of  silver,  but  that  it  was  first 
necessary  to  get  rid  of  the  silver  purchase  law  which 
blocked  the  way  of  silver.  That  argument  was  all  very 
well  for  an  excuse,  especially  for  those  who  repre 
sented  free  silver  constituents,  but  these  men  not 
only  voted  for  repeal  of  the  silver  purchase  law, 


120        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

but  they  also  voted  against  an  amendment  for  free 
coinage. 

The  repeal  of  the  silver  purchase  act  in  the  Senate 
demonstrated  that  a  majority  in  the  Senate  can  pass 
any  measure  that  is  supported  by  public  sentiment. 
Filibusters  have  been  successful  in  the  Senate  when 
ever  the  apparent  majority  is  not  real;  when  Senators 
feel  obliged  to  vote  for  a  bill  if  a  vote  is  reached,  but 
who  are  secretly  aiding  the  opponents  of  the  bill  and 
helping  to  prevent  a  vote.  But  a  real  majority  can 
force  a  vote  without  cloture.  A  minority  can  defeat  a 
bill  for  a  time,  but  ultimately  it  must  yield  to  a  deter 
mined  majority  backed  by  the  people. 

A  majority  of  the  men  in  the  Senate  in  the  Fifty- 
second  Congress  had  voted  or  declared  for  free  silver. 
By  the  skillful  use  of  patronage  Cleveland  changed  a 
number  of  Democratic  votes,  while  the  anti-silver 
Republicans  who  had  in  1890  supported  the  silver  pur 
chase  bill  as  a  compromise — a  sort  of  cyclone  cellar 
when  the  free  coinage  tornado  threatened — were 
anxious  for  repeal. 

There  never  was  a  similar  contest  in  the  Senate.  For 
nearly  three  months  the  silver  men  of  both  parties 
filibustered  against  a  vote.  It  was  altogether  a  differ 
ent  fight  than  that  made  against  the  force  bill.  Then 
the  Democrats  were  united  and  it  was  party  against 
party ;  the  end  of  the  term  of  Congress  was  near,  and 
the  minority  only  had  to  hold  off  a  vote  until  12  o'clock 
on  March  4th  to  win  their  fight. 

In  the  silver  fight  the  parties  were  divided.    The 


Reed  Discovers  Bryan  121 

minority  was  composed  almost  equally  of  Democrats 
and  Republicans.  Matt  Quay  once  told  me  that  he 
put  no  reliance  in  a  coalition  of  wings  of  the  two  parties. 
" Sooner  or  later,"  he  said,  "the  lure  of  party  will  be 
too  strong,  and  men  with  whom  you  have  made  hard 
and  fast  agreements  will  desert  you  and  join  their  party 
associates." 

That  was  what  happened  in  the  silver  fight.  The  men 
from  the  silver  states,  six  of  whom  had  voted  to  set 
aside  the  force  bill,  thought  that  the  southern  Senators 
should  have  stood  by  them  forever,  but  the  southern 
men  could  not  withstand  the  pressure  that  was  brought 
to  bear  upon  them.  They  were  opposing  the  President 
of  their  party  and  they  were  not  getting  any  patronage 
for  hungry  constituents.  They  were  accused  of  stand 
ing  out  for  silver,  in  which  the  South  had  no  interest,  and 
in  doing  so  were  disrupting  the  Democratic  party.  The 
constant  pounding  of  the  daily  papers  was  becoming 
unbearable.  Finally,  the  veteran  Harris  of  Tennessee 
went  over  to  Fred  Dubois  of  Idaho,  the  floor  leader  of 
the  silver  Republicans,  and  in  his  shrill,  cutting  voice, 
said: 

1 '  Dubois,  I  told  you  that  we  would  stand  by  you  until 
hell  froze  over.  We  have  had  another  look  at  our  hand 
and  must  lay  down." 

Isham  G.  Harris  enjoyed  a  game  of  draw  poker  as 
much  as  any  man  in  Congress,  hence  his  figurative  lan 
guage  on  this  important  occasion. 

A  few  days  later  the  repeal  bill  passed  the  Senate, 
ending  a  memorable  contest  which,  while  it  lasted, 


122        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

confirmed  what  Reed  said  about  the  "tyranny  of  the 
minority."  But  the  minority  could  not  win.  Vain 
were  the  six  days'  talk  by  Jones  of  Nevada;  the  long- 
winded  diatribes  of  Big  Bill  Stewart,  when  he  raved 
about  the  "crime  of  '73";  the  scoldings  of  Teller  and 
the  cutting  speeches  of  his  colleague,  the  brilliant  Wol- 
cott;  vain  was  that  long-distance  speech  of  Allen  of 
Nebraska,  who  occupied  the  floor  for  fifteen  hours;  all 
the  time  and  words  were  useless.  The  nation  had 
decreed  the  repeal  of  the  silver  purchase  law  and  its 
fate  was  inevitable. 

The  repeal  bill  had  to  go  to  conference  after  it  passed 
the  Senate,  and  on  the  adoption  of  the  conference  report 
the  silver  men  in  the  House  made  their  last  stand.  It 
was  here  that  Bryan  became  the  leader  of  the  forlorn 
hope  and  went  down  with  his  sixteen-to-one  guns  blaz 
ing  forth  prophecies  of  future  success.  Why  did  no 
one,  save  Tom  Reed,  see  the  coming  Democratic  leader 
in  this  young  champion  of  the  white  metal?  Poor  old 
Dick  Bland  could  no  longer  fight  when  he  knew  that 
certain  defeat  stared  him  in  the  face.  The  silver  banner 
fell  from  his  almost  nerveless  hands.  But  it  was  quickly 
raised  aloft  by  Bryan,  who  bore  it  forward  with  all  the 
animation  of  one  whose  visions  are  realities  for  the 
time  being.  Perhaps  that  is  why  Bryan  instead  of 
Bland  was  the  nominee  in  1896. 

Bryan  had  been  in  the  thick  of  the  fight  against  the 
repeal  bill  before  it  passed.  When  the  final  stages  were 
reached,  and  the  adoption  of  the  conference  report 
would  send  it  to  the  President,  he  made  his  fight  more 


Reed  Discovers  Bryan  123 

strenuous.  Long  after  Bland  and  other  leaders  for 
silver  on  the  Democratic  side,  as  well  as  the  few  Re 
publicans  from  the  silver  states,  had  retired  -and  given 
up,  Bryan  continued  the  fight  and  conducted  a  fili 
buster  for  more  than  an  hour,  making  all  sorts  of  mo 
tions,  which  would  have  been  ruled  out  as  dilatory  by 
any  other  Speaker  than  the  good-natured  Crisp.  Bryan 
was  opposing  William  L.Wilson,  who  still  had  charge  of 
the  bill.  In  less  than  a  year  he  was  one  of  the  enthusi 
astic  young  men  who  hoisted  Wilson  on  their  shoulders 
and  bore  him  out  of  the  chamber  when  the  Wilson 
tariff  bill  passed  the  House. 

Bryan  was  vehement  in  protesting  against  the  "gag" 
methods  by  which  silver  was  to  be  strangled  in  the 
House  of  its  supposed  friends.  He  declaimed  vigor 
ously  for  free  speech  and  the  right  of  every  man  to  be 
heard.  Time  makes  many  changes.  The  same  Bryan, 
in  the  winter  of  1915,  urged  Vice  President  Marshall  to 
apply  the  gag  to  pass  the  ship  purchase  bill.  When 
the  filibuster  was  exhausted,  and  the  vote  was  to  be 
taken,  Bryan  closed  the  debate  for  the  silver  men. 
After  making  predictions  about  the  dire  calamities 
that  would  follow  this  ruthless  striking  down  of  sil 
ver,  the  money  of  the  Constitution  and  the  people,  he 
said: 

"I  hope  we  are  wrong,  but  we  are  not.  Silver  will 
yet  lay  aside  its  grave  clothes  and  its  shroud.  It  will 
yet  rise  and  in  its  rising  and  reign  will  bless  mankind." 

The  remark  shows  the  Bryan  tendency  to  mix  re 
ligion  and  politics.  An  echo  of  this  statement  was 


124        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

heard  in  the  convention  of  1896,  when  Bryan  made  his 
famous  "cross  of  gold"  speech. 

The  repeal  of  the  silver  purchase  law  had  a  far- 
reaching  political  effect.  It  split  the  Democratic  party, 
united  the  Populists  of  the  country  with  the  silver  wing 
of  Democracy,  and  while  the  division  of  the  Democrats 
caused  them  many  successive  defeats,  it  is  possible  that 
it  saved  the  party  from  disruption  in  the  southern 
states. 

The  repeal  bill  overshadowed  the  tariff,  upon  which 
elections  had  been  lost  and  won,  and  became  the  only 
subject  of  importance  as  an  issue  in  the  campaign 
of  1896.  McKinley  was  nominated  for  President  on 
his  tariff  record  and  elected  President  on  the  gold  plank 
in  the  platform  at  St.  Louis.  Bryan  was  nominated 
on  the  record  he  had  made  for  silver,  but  not  that  made 
in  Congress.  It  was  his  speech  on  the  platform  in 
support  of  the  silver  plank  which  won  him  the  plaudits 
of  the  silver  Democrats  and  their  votes. 


CHAPTER  XII 

GREAT  TARIFF  FIGHT  OF   1894 

Battle  Over  the  Wilson  Bill  in  the  Senate — Champ  Clark's  Struggle  for  a 
Hearing  in  the  House — Protection  Democrats  Force  Concessions — 
Secretiveness  of  Vest — Jones  a  Friend  in  Need — Cal.  Brice — 
Baiting  Low  Tariff  Men — Final  Contest  between  Cleveland  and 
the  Senate. 

•"PHE  tariff  contest  of  1894  was  in  the  Senate.  There 
were  no  incidents  of  any  moment  connected  with 
the  Wilson  bill  in  the  House  save  the  struggle  that 
Champ  Clark  made  to  get  his  head  above  water. 
Champ  was  ambitious  to  get  along.  He  was  a  new  man 
and  was  overshadowed  in  the  Missouri  delegation  by 
such  men  as  Dockery,  De  Armond,  Cobb,  Tarsney, 
Hatch,  Heard,  and,  in  fact,  all  who  had  longer  service. 
Champ  wanted  to  talk  on  the  tariff.  When  the  silver 
bill  was  considered  those  in  charge  of  the  bill  allowed 
him  an  hour  at  one  of  the  evening  sessions.  This 
sop  was  not  satisfactory  to  Clark.  On  the  tariff  he 
wanted  to  talk  to  the  members  of  the  House,  not  to 
galleries  filled  with  Washington  people  out  for  an 
evening's  amusement. 

"I  decided  to  take  chances  under  the  five-minute 
rule,"  said  Champ,  relating  how  he  circumvented  those 
who  seemed  determined  to  keep  him  in  the  background. 
"I  got  me  up  a  speech  of  an  hour  and  a  half  and  cut  it 

125 


i26        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

up  into  five-minute  talks.  The  first  time  I  was  recog 
nized  I  spoke  five  minutes ;  the  next  time  I  had  an  ex 
tension  of  five  minutes;  the  third  time  I  was  given  two 
extensions.  The  fourth  time  I  had  a  rough-and-tumble 
with  a  number  of  Republicans,  and  the  House  let  me 
go  on  until  I  finished  my  speech." 

That  was  where  Champ  Clark  made  his  reputation 
in  the  House.  Always  given  to  strong  Saxon  words, 
he  was  much  less  smooth  and  polished  in  that  day  than 
in  later  years  when  the  presidential  bee  began  to  buzz 
around  his  ears. 

The  Wilson  bill  had  a  stormy  time  in  the  Senate. 
The  majority  of  Democrats  would  have  passed  the  bill 
without  many  changes  from  the  low  tariff  measure  of 
the  House,  but  Gorman  of  Maryland,  Brice  of  Ohio, 
Smith  of  New  Jersey,  and  Murphy  of  New  York,  de 
cided  there  must  be  more  protection  in  the  measure. 
The  Democratic  majority  in  the  Senate  was  so  narrow 
that  these  four  men  could  force  the  increases  they 
wanted  or  defeat  the  bill.  More  than  six__Jiundred 
amendments  were  made  and  in  the  final  test  the  House 
swallowed  all  of  them. 

The  tariff  bill  was  not  passed  without  a  sugar  scandal 
and  an  investigation.  The  sugar  investigation  of  1894 
is  a  part  of  the  legislative  history  of  the  time,  but  fur 
nished  a  number  of  interesting  side-lights.  At  one  time 
it  was  proposed  to  call  before  the  committee  every 
chairman  of  a  national  committee  to  inquire  whether 
they  received  contributions  from  the  sugar  trust. 

"I  apprehend,"  said  Cal.  Brice,  who  had  been  a  na- 


Great  Tariff  Fight  of  1894        127 

tional  chairman,  "that  if  those  men  were  called,  it 
would  be  found  that  they  have  forgotten  everything 
connected  with  money  transactions.  They  never  keep 
an  elaborate  set  of  books.  I  do  not  believe  they  would 
remember  from  whom  money  was  received,  or  to  whom 
money  was  paid.  It  is  not  a  part  of  their  business  to 
burden  their  minds  with  such  details." 

Matt  Quay  was  the  only  Senator  who  had  speculated 
in  sugar.  He  said  so;  the  others  said  they  hadn't. 
That  settled  it  with  the  Senate.  It  is  true  that  Senator 
McPherson's  cook  ran  out  and  filed  a  telegram  that 
was  lying  around  loose  at  the  Senator's  house,  and  it 
turned  out  that  this  telegram  authorized  the  purchase 
of  a  few  thousand  shares  of  stock  for  the  New  Jersey 
Senator.  But  that  was  an  oversight  which  the  Senate 
was  perfectly  willing  to  forgive.  An  official  of  a  brok 
erage  house  was  jailed  because  he  would  not  answer 
questions  about  senatorial  speculations  in  sugar;  and  a 
newspaper  man  was  held  under  arrest  for  a  time  because 
he  would  not  disclose  the  sources  of  information  con 
tained  in  an  article  he  published  about  sugar  trading. 

But  it  was  a  good  time  to  speculate  in  sugar,  and 
Senators  knew  a  great  deal  about  what  was  going  on. 
Brice  told  me  one  day  when  sugar  was  going  up  that  it 
would  keep  going  higher  until  it  touched  100.  That 
top  price  was  reached  soon  afterwards,  but  was  held  at 
that  figure  only  a  short  time.  The  owners  and  ma 
nipulators  had  promised  somebody,  or  several  persons 
perhaps,  that  sugar  would  reach  that  price.  Commis 
sioner  Lamoreaux  of  the  General  Land  Office  told  me 


128        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

he  had  made  $34,000  from  an  investment  of  $5,000. 
"Dan  Lament  (Secretary  of  War)  told  me  to  buy," 
said  the  Commissioner,  "and  said  to  hold  on  until  a 
certain  price  was  reached.  I  watched  it  crawl  up  to 
that  price  and  then  closed  out  the  speculation." 

The  management  of  the  tariff  bill  was  in  the  hands  of 
George  G.  Vest  of  Missouri  and  James  K.  Jones  of 
Arkansas,  who  were  the  tariff  experts  of  the  Finance 
Committee.  Daniel  W.  Voorhees  of  Indiana  was  Chair 
man  of  the  Committee  and  had  nominal  charge  in  the 
Senate,  while  Isham  G.  Harris  of  Tennessee  was  the 
parliamentary  floor  leader.  It  was  the  especial  duty 
of  Harris  to  keep  the  Senate  in  session,  particularly  when 
there  seemed  a  disposition  to  filibuster  against  the  bill. 
He  would  not  allow  adjournments  until  late  at  night 
and  sometimes  forced  evening  sessions.  One  day  when 
Harris  was  asleep  in  the  cloak  room,  a  quiet  understand 
ing  was  reached  and  the  Senate  adjourned  early  in  the 
afternoon. 

"The  damned  infernal  buzzards!"  shrilled  Harris, 
coming  out  of  the  door;  "they  adjourned  the  Senate  on 
me  while  I  was  asleep!" 

Vest  was  one  of  the  most  secretive  men  I  ever  knew. 
After  each  of  the  many  caucuses  which  were  held  to  con 
sider  the  bill  he  would  have  Col.  Edwards,  his  trusted 
employee,  gather  up  every  copy  of  the  bill  and  lock 
them  up.  No  Senator  was  allowed  to  keep  one  for  fear 
of  a  leak.  Jones  was  more  liberal.  I  don't  know  what 
we  should  have  done  but  for  the  kindly  help  of  the 
Arkansas  Senator.  Every  newspaper  man  who  had  to 


Great  Tariff  Fight  of  1894        129 

secure  facts  on  the  tariff  in  those  days  would  have  been 
in  a  bad  way  but  for  the  consideration  of  Jones,  whose 
knowledge  of  what  was  in  the  bill  was  superior  to  that 
of  any  other  man  in  the  Senate. 

As  an  example  of  Vest's  secretiveness  I  will  mention 
an  instance.  Secretary  Carlisle  was  to  appear  before 
the  Democratic  members  of  the  Finance  Committee  and 
present  the  sugar  schedule  which  had  been  fixed  up  in 
the  Treasury  Department.  I  was  not  sure  that  Carlisle 
had  reached  the  Capitol,  and  when  I  saw  Vest  coming 
from  the  room  I  asked  him  if  the  Secretary  had  been 
there. 

"I  don't  know  whether  he  has  or  not,"  replied  the 
Missouri  Senator. 

Just  then  another  Senator  opened  the  door  and  there 
was  Carlisle,  talking  with  the  remaining  members  of 
the  committee. 

At  one  caucus  Vest  had  been  very  severe  in  denounc 
ing  the  leaks  which  allowed  the  proceedings  to  be  pub 
lished  in  the  newspapers.  His  remarks  had  effect,  for 
no  one  could  get  a  Senator  to  breathe  a  word  of  what 
had  taken  place.  Even  Jones  put  us  off  by  saying  that 
"Vest  has  been  raising  hell  over  the  publication  of 
tariff  matters."  • 

After  trying  everybody  who  might  give  a  hint  of 
what  had  occurred,  two  or  three  men  went  as  a  forlorn 
hope  to  see  Cal.  Brice.  We  had  to  wait  until  he  awoke 
from  the  nap,  which  he  always  took  before  dinner. 

"Let's  tackle  him  one  at  a  time,"  some  one  said,  for 
we  knew  that  a  man  would  often  speak  more  freely 

VOL.  I — p 


130        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

when  only  one  newspaper  man  was  present,  because  in 
case  a  denial  became  necessary  it  would  be  one  man's 
word  against  another  and  no  witnesses  for  corrob oration. 
Brice  came  into  the  room  a  little  later  in  full  evening 
dress  and  I  went  up  to  him. 

"I'm  in  a  hurry,"  he  said,  'Til  talk  to  you  all  at 
once,"  and  he  beckoned  the  others  to  come  forward. 
"Now  what  do  you  want?" 

"The  caucus—  "  began  one. 

"Oh  yes,  the  caucus,"  broke  in  Brice.  "Vest  shut 
us  all  up  to-day,  and  scolded  about  the  leaks.  Well, 
let's  see  what  did  happen  there?" 

And  he  went  on  and  gave  us  a  full  account  of  every 
thing  he  could  remember;  what  was  said  and  by  whom; 
what  action  was  taken  and  why.  It  was  the  best  report 
of  a  caucus  that  appeared  during  the  entire  struggle. 

Those  were  trying  days  for  low  tariff  men.  It  was 
the  delight  of  Senator  Hoar  of  Massachusetts  frequently 
to  call  the  attention  of  Senator  Mills  of  Texas  to  the 
duty  on  coal  which  was  maintained  in  the  bill. 

"In  New  England  during  several  campaigns,"  he 
would  say,  his  Pickwick  face  beaming,  "the  Senator 
from  Texas  promised  our  people  that  when  the  Demo 
crats  came  into  power  and  made  a  tariff  bill  our  manu 
facturers  should  have  free  coal." 

Mills  would  rant  and  storm,  and  boldly  tell  how  the 
real  low  tariff  men  were  held  up  by  Democratic  pro 
tectionists,  forcing  the  real  tariff  reformers  to  take 
what  they  could  get  or  see  the  tariff  bill  defeated.  He 
would  glare  at  Gorman,  Smith  and  Brice,  whom  he 


Great  Tariff  Fight  of  1894        131 

frequently  denounced  as  Democratic  traitors,  although 
he  did  not  name  them.  The  two  former  would 
sit  apparently  unconcerned,  and  Brice  would  smile 
sardonically. 

Brice  would  also  take  a  hand  in  badgering.  He 
would  go  to  Senator  Berry  of  Arkansas,  who  was  more 
of  a  free  trader  than  any  man  in  the  Senate.  It  was 
about  the  time  the  somewhat  famous  "Jones  Amend 
ments"  were  voted  into  the  bill.  These  amendments 
were  forced  into  the  bill  by  Matt  Quay's  threat  of  talk 
ing  the  bill  to  death  unless  Pennsylvania  interests 
were  better  cared  for.  He  had  on  his  desk  a  pile  of 
manuscript  a  foot  high,  and  he  read  the  sheets  with 
much  deliberation.  After  several  days  the  Democratic 
caucus  consented  to  make  many  changes  in  the  bill. 

" Berry,"  Brice  would  say  to  the  one-legged  Confed 
erate  veteran ; ' '  Berry,  I  see  you  have  just  voted  for 
protection  again.  What  will  your  Arkansas  constitu 
ents  say  about  that?  Voting  for  protection!  Allied 
with  the  plutocrats  and  robber  barons !  Tied  up  with 
the  money  devil!  Berry,  I'm  afraid  those  Arkansas 
people  will  say  you  have  been  corrupted." 

Berry  would  shake  his  long  mane,  grind  his  teeth,  and 
mutter: 

"Goll  durn  'em!  goll  durn  'em!" 

The  contest  between  the  President  and  the  Senate 
occurred  after  the  tariff  bill  passed  the  Senate.  The 
differences  between  the  Democrats  of  the  Senate  and 
Cleveland  had  been  growing  more  and  more  acute. 
Gorman  had  made  his  celebrated  speech  denouncing 


132        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Cleveland.  It  is  not  often  that  a  party  leader  defies 
the  President  of  his  party.  It  was  brave  enough,  but 
later  it  cost  Gorman  his  seat  in  the  Senate. 

It  was  a  contest  nominally  between  the  Senate  and 
House,  but  Cleveland  was  back  of  the  House  and  it  was 
really  his  fight.  Speaker  Crisp  and  all  of  his  lieuten 
ants  became  Cleveland  supporters  for  the  time.  The 
position  of  the  Senate  conferees  was  clearly  untenable. 
They  refused  to  change  or  concede  a  single  item,  not 
even  a  punctuation  mark.  The  House,  Vest  told  the 
conferees  of  that  body,  must  accept  the  bill  as  the  Sen 
ate  passed  it,  with  all  its  protection  amendments;  to 
take  the  bill  back  into  the  Senate  would  mean  its  defeat 
and  no  tariff  legislation.  Both  sides  stood  firm.  Day 
by  day  the  White  House  said  the  Senate  must  yield 
and  grant  a  free  conference  on  the  bill,  and  day  by  day 
the  Senate  refused  to  budge. 

The  House  conferees  told  the  Senate  conferees  the 
bill  was  full  of  protection  iniquities.  "That  may  be 
true,  but  nevertheless  and  notwithstanding  you  have 
got  to  accept  it,"  replied  Vest,  and  he  told  them  a  little 
illustrative  story. 

In  a  far  western  music  hall  the  manager,  stepping 
on  the  stage,  announced:  "Miss  Birdie  Annadale,  the 
gifted  soprano,  will  now  sing  'Down  in  the  Valley.'" 

A  half -drunken  rounder  bawled  out  that  Miss  Birdie 
Annadale  couldn't  sing  for  sour  apples,  and  further 
that  she  was  anything  but  a  lady,  or  words  to  that 
effect. 

"Nevertheless  and   notwithstanding,"   suavely  re- 


Great  Tariff  Fight  of  1894        133 

plied  the  manager,  "Miss  Birdie  Annadale  will  now 
sing  'Down  in  the  Valley.' ' 

It  happened  that  way  with  the  tariff  bill:  "neverthe 
less  and  notwithstanding"  all  that  was  said  by  the 
House  conferees  and  the  White  House,  the  House  ac 
cepted  all  the  amendments.  Cleveland  let  the  bill 
become  a  law  without  his  signature,  contenting  himself 
by  writing  a  letter  to  Congressman  Catchings  of  Mis 
sissippi  charging  the  Senate  Democrats  with  "party 
perfidy  and  dishonor,"  words  which  did  not  help  the 
relations  between  the  White  House  and  the  Senate  and 
which  the  Republicans  used  with  great  effect  during  the 
campaign  then  in  progress. 

Dave  Hill  and  Ed.  Murphy,  the  New  York  Senators, 
split  on  the  tariff  bill.  Murphy  was  with  Gorman,  Brice 
and  Smith  in  trying  to  get  more  protection  in  the  bill. 
Murphy  was  granted  a  high  rate  on  collars,  cuffs  and 
shirts  manufactured  at  his  home  in  Troy,  and  that 
satisfied  him.  Hill  made  a  great  fight  for  free  raw 
materials  and  a  vigorous  assault  upon  the  income  tax 
provision,  and  because  it  remained  in  the  bill  refused  to 
vote  for  it. 

Senator  William  E.  Chandler  was  responsible  for  an 
exciting  scene  in  the  Senate  at  an  evening  session  while 
the  tariff  bill  was  under  consideration.  One  of  those 
"gentleman's  agreements"  had  been  reached,  which 
meant  that  the  tariff  bill  was  to  be  passed  without  much 
more  discussion  or  opposition  by  the  Republicans.  An 
evening  session  had  been  arranged  to  run  through  un- 
objected  portions  of  the  bill.  Chandler  had  incor- 


i34        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

porated  into  the  unanimous  consent  agreement  a  pro 
viso  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  make  a  speech  if 
he  so  desired.  The  New  Hampshire  Senator  was  so 
constituted  that  he  did  not  like  to  have  a  day  close  with 
out  some  sort  of  a  partisan  or  sectional  controversy. 
He  generally  brought  this  about  by  baiting  the  Demo 
cratic  side,  usually  upon  the  race  question,  until  he 
had  several  southern  Senators  in  a  heated  and  angry 
colloquy  with  him.  He  was  so  artful  that  he  could 
always  get  a  rise  out  of  Tillman,  Bacon,  or  Mills. 

When  the  Senate  met  at  night  to  consider  uncon- 
tested  matters  in  the  tariff  bill,  there  were  a  few  mem 
bers  present ;  a  few  stragglers  in  the  galleries  and  one  or 
two  newspaper  men  who  had  to  be  there.  Chandler 
began  at  once  and  without  any  apparent  care  whether 
he  had  an  audience  or  not.  He  said  the  Democrats, 
if  right  and  justice  had  been  observed,  would  have  no 
power  to  pass  a  tariff  bill.  He  attacked  the  validity  of 
the  election  of  John  Martin  of  Kansas,  and  then  turned 
on  William  N.  Roach  of  North  Dakota. 

I  had  known  Roach  in  territorial  days.  He  had  been 
elected  mayor  of  one  of  the  mushroom  towns ;  had  been 
a  member  of  the  territorial  legislature ;  and  four  years 
after  North  Dakota  was  admitted  as  a  state,  bolting 
Republican  members  of  the  legislature  voted  with  the 
Democrats  and  elected  him  United  States  Senator. 
Therefore  it  was  with  great  surprise  that  I  listened  to 
Chandler,  who  charged  Roach  with  being  a  defaulting 
bank  clerk  in  Washington  City,  and  read  records  to 
sustain  his  charge. 


Great  Tariff  Fight  of  1894        135 

Of  course  this  made  a  mighty  sensation.  When 
Chandler  concluded,  Martin  became  excited  and  said 
harsh  words  about  Chandler.  Ro^ch,  during  the  ex 
coriation,  paced  back  and  forth  behind  the  Democratic 
seats,  opening  and  closing  a  big  clasp  knife.  Occa 
sionally  he  visited  the  Senate  restaurant  and  drank  a 
glass  of  whiskey.  His  friends  watched  him  closely 
fearing  he  might  make  a  murderous  assault  upon 
Chandler. 

But  neither  in  the  Senate  nor  elsewhere  did  he  ever 
attempt  to  make  any  explanation  of  the  charges  against 
him. 

Senator  Hill  attempted  to  reply  to  Chandler,  but  it 
was  no  place  for  a  third  party,  even  so  good  an  advocate 
as  Hill.  That  was  a  time  for  a  man  holding  a  seat  on 
the  floor  of  the  Senate  to  defend  himself.  Hill  could 
not  do  himself  justice  nor  his  fellow  Democrats  any 
good  at  such  a  time. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

A  YEAR  OF  IMPORTANT  EVENTS 

Besides  the  Tariff  1894  Furnished  Many  Historical  Incidents — Senator 
Hill  Defeats  Cleveland's  Supreme  Court  Nominations — Coxey's 
Army  Marches  to  Washington — Republican  Landslide  in  the  Con 
gressional  Elections — Last  of  Many  Prominent  Democrats — Champ 
Clark  Lauds  Bryan. 

\V  7HILE  the  tariff  was  the  big  question  in  1894,  much 
else  occurred  to  focus  attention  upon  the  Na 
tional  Capital.  It  was  the  year  of  the  big  railroad  strike 
requiring  Federal  interference;  Coxey's  and  other  com 
monweal  armies  marched  on  Washington;  an  election 
was  held  which  began  a  prolonged  period  of  Republican 
domination;  and  an  interesting  contest  over  the  selec 
tion  of  an  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  took 
place.  That  was  a  memorable  affair. 

Early  in  1894,  President  Cleveland  sent  to  the  Senate 
the  name  of  William  B.  Hornblower  of  New  York  to  be 
Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  His  confirma 
tion  was  defeated  by  Senator  Hill.  Cleveland  then 
named  Wheeler  H.  Peckham  of  New  York  and  Hill  de 
feated  his  confirmation.  The  President  then  nominated 
Edward  Douglas  White,  a  Senator  from  Louisiana,  as 
Associate  Justice  and  he  was  confirmed  at  once.  Horn- 
blower  and  Peckham  were  rejected  before  the  tariff  bill 
had  been  taken  up  in  the  Senate.  Hill's  position  on 

136 


A  Year  of  Important  Events       137 

that  bill  made  him  so  many  enemies  in  his  own  party 
that  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  would  have  been  able  to 
defeat  either  of  these  nominations  had  they  been  sent 
to  the  Senate  after  the  tariff  bill  fight.  But  before 
the  tariff  fight  many  Democrats  supported  Hill  because 
they  disliked  Cleveland.  This  was  particularly  true  of 
the  silver  Democrats,  who  still  felt  resentment  because 
Cleveland  had  become  such  a  confirmed  gold  standard 
man,  and  had  not  only  secured  the  repeal  of  the  silver 
purchase  law,  but  vetoed  the  bill  for  coining  the  surplus 
silver  which  had  accumulated  as  a  result  of  the  purchase 
law. 

Senator  Hill's  success  in  defeating  Cleveland  in  their 
first  clash  since  the  convention  of  1892  gave  him  con 
siderable  prominence.  Hill  had  been  elected  to  the 
Senate  in  the  winter  of  1891,  but  he  did  not  take  his 
seat  until  January,  1892,  continuing  to  hold  the  of 
fice  of  Governor  of  New  York  in  order  to  prevent 
Lieutenant  Governor  Jones  of  Binghamton  from  becom 
ing  Governor  of  the  Empire  State.  The  Lieutenant 
Governor  became  known  to  fame  by  his  advertising. 
"Jones,  he  pays  the  freight,"  in  large  type  stared  at 
readers  of  newspapers. 

Hill  came  to  the  Senate  known  as  a  "peanut  politi 
cian."  He  left  with  the  reputation  of  being  a  strong 
lawyer  and  an  able  man,  though  scarcely  regretted. 
He  antagonized  too  many  men;  was  at  outs  with  Gor 
man,  Brice,  Jim  Smith  and  other  anti-Cleveland  con 
servatives;  with  Vilas,  Gray,  McPherson  and  other 
Cleveland  men ;  and  with  the  silver  men  who  comprised 


From  Harrison  to  Harding 

the  majority  of  the  Democrats  in  the  Senate.  But  he 
was  a  fighter. 

It  has  been  one  regret  of  my  Washington  experience 
that  Hill  and  Foraker  could  not  have  met  in  the  Senate 
and  engaged  in  a  joint  political  debate.  That  would 
have  been  a  battle  royal.  No  man  was  Hill's  equal 
as  a  debater  while  he  was  in  the  Senate.  Even  the 
waspish  Chandler  was  not  a  match  for  him.  Spooner 
was  never  in  any  real  forensic  conflict  with  him. 
Foraker  is  the  only  man  I  have  known  who  would  have 
been  Hill's  match. 

Hill  clashed  with  Ben.  Tillman,  but  the  fiery  South 
Carolinian's  sledge  hammer  blows,  delivered  with  force 
and  a  fantastic  vocabulary,  were  scarcely  equal  to  the 
rapier  thrusts  of  the  New  Yorker. 

Hill  always  attended  the  sessions  of  the  Senate  and 
knew  what  was  going  on  all  the  time.  He  had  a  marvel 
ous  memory  and  never  misquoted  a  book  or  a  remark 
made  in  debate. 

"If  by  any  chance,"  his  colleague,  Ed.  Murphy, 
once  said  to  me,  "the  proceedings  of  the  Senate  for  an 
entire  day  should  be  destroyed,  Hill  could  reconstruct 
them  from  memory." 

Once  when  he  was  sitting,  grim  and  watchful,  I  said 
something  about  him  to  a  friend  of  Cal.  Brice. 

"He  hasn't  a  friend  in  the  Senate,"  said  the  man. 

"Nor  an  enemy  that  he  fears,"  I  could  not  help 
adding. 

Hill's  fight  against  Cleveland  aided  him  for  a  time 
with  the  southern  men,  but  his  vicious  assault  upon  the 


A  Year  of  Important  Events       139 

income  tax  and  the  fight  he  made  against  the  Wilson 
bill  alienated  most  of  the  Democrats,  even  before  he 
became  so  pronounced  against  free  silver.  He  had 
very  few  friends  on  either  side  when  he  left  the  Senate. 

One  of  the  manifestations  growing  out  of  the  hard 
times  of  that  period  was  the  march  of  the  so-called 
"commonweal  armies"  to  the  National  Capital.  The 
principal  "army"  was  commanded  by  Jacob  S.  Coxey 
of  Ohio.  Coxey 's  army  was  created  by  newspaper  men. 
A  correspondent,  who  was  sent  to  see  just  what  Coxey 
was  doing  when  he  first  began  to  talk  about  his  projects, 
found  that  it  was  all  talk,  but  he  wrote  a  story  just 
the  same,  making  it  appear  to  be  about  the  biggest 
thing  in  Ohio.  Other  newspapers  sent  their  men  to  the 
same  place  and  they  found  they  were  fooled. 

"Be  sports,"  said  the  first  man,  "there  is  enough 
here  for  a  little  fun  if  nothing  else."  And  so  every  cor 
respondent  gave  it  a  boost,  and  finally  the  "army"  was 
actually  created  and  on  the  march,  winding  up  on  the 
Capitol  steps  and  with  the  arrest  of  Coxey  for  failing  to 
obey  the  sign,  "keep  off  the  grass." 

How  everybody  laughed  when  Coxey  proposed  that 
the  unemployed  should  be  set  at  work  building  roads, 
and  proposed  to  issue  $500,000,000  bonds  to  pay  for 
the  roads.  Since  that  time  men  considered  "safe  and 
sane"  have  proposed  measures  expending  anywhere 
from  $25,000,000  to  $100,000,000  a  year  upon  good 
roads.  The  country  has  invested  nearly  the  same 
amount,  half  a  billion,  in  a  canal  away  down  on  the 
Isthmus,  and  since  then  "safe  and  sane"  men  in  Con- 


i4°        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

gress  have  voted  away  sums  which  make  Coxey's  half 
a  billion  small  in  comparison. 

The  fight  over  the  tariff  kept  Congress  in  session  so 
late  that  there  were  only  two  months  for  the  campaign. 
The  Republicans  had  no  idea  they  were  going  to  make 
such  a  sweep.  They  were  confident  of  victory,  but 
they  did  not  expect  to  carry  nearly  every  district  in  the 
North  and  make  such  inroads  in  the  South. 

One  of  the  amusing  incidents  of  the  campaign  of  1 894 
was  that  which  brought  J.  Adam  Bede  into  the  lime 
light.  Bede  had  been  a  reporter  on  a  Washintgon 
paper  years  before,  but  had  followed  Horace  Greeley's 
advice  and  gone  west,  settling  at  Duluth.  At  the  be 
hest  of  Congressman  Baldwin,  a  Democrat  who  repre 
sented  the  Duluth  district,  Cleveland  appointed  Bede 
United  States  Marshal  for  the  district  of  Minnesota. 

During  his  first  term  Cleveland  had  written  a  letter 
which  caused  a  great  deal  of  comment,  and  in  which  he 
warned  officeholders  against  "pernicious  activity"  in 
politics.  The  substance  of  that  letter  was  made  a  part 
of  a  circular  to  officeholders  in  1894.  Bede  resigned  in 
high  dudgeon,  as  he  was  engaged  in  the  active  support 
of  Baldwin  for  reelection. 

"I  resign  to  fight  the  battles  of  my  friend,"  wrote 
Bede.  "The  hell  hounds  are  on  his  trail,  and  I  would 
be  disloyal  to  myself  if  I  did  not  exert  my  utmost  in  his 
behalf." 

Most  of  the  officeholders  took  the  letter  in  a  Pick 
wickian  sense  and  continued  their  political  work, 
quietly,  but  effectively.  But  not  so  with  J.  Adam 


A  Year  of  Important  Events       14 1 

Bede.  He  took  it  literally  and  made  a  sensation  out 
of  it.  Two  years  later  he  left  the  Democratic  party  on 
the  silver  issue  and  has  ever  since  been  a  Republican. 
He  was  several  terms  a  member  of  Congress  and  has 
been  an  effective  spellbinder  for  the  Republicans  in  all 
campaigns. 

It  was  a  disgusted  and  disheartened  body  of  Demo 
crats  that  returned  to  the  short  session  of  the  Fifty- 
third  Congress  in  December,  1894.  They  had  been 
through  a  cyclone.  Their  very  large  majority  had  been 
turned  into  the  smallest  minority  in  the  House  since 
Civil  War  times.  Only  the  rock-ribbed  solid  South — 
which  was  not  quite  solid — resisted  the  sweep  of  the 
Republicans. 

Many  well-known  men  who  had  served  in  Congress 
for  years  were  defeated.  Among  them  were  Wilson  of 
West  Virginia,  the  party  leader;  Springer  of  Illinois; 
Holman  and  Bynum  of  Indiana ;  Jerry  Simpson,  Popu 
list,  of  Kansas;  Breckinridge  of  Kentucky;  Rayner  of 
Maryland;  O'Neil  of  Massachusetts;  Bland  and  Champ 
Clark  of  Missouri;  Bryan  of  Nebraska;  W.  Bourke 
Cockran  of  New  York ;  Tom  Johnson  of  Ohio. 

There  was  considerable  chaffing  of  Democrats  by 
Republicans.  Tom  Reed  continued  to  give  attention 
to  Bryan.  Once  when  Reed  was  making  a  speech,  a 
Congressman  whom  Reed  regarded  as  a  nobody  inter 
jected  a  remark.  Bryan  smiled  and  nodded  approval. 

"That,"  said  Reed,  "meets  the  approval  of  the 
gentleman  from  Nebraska — or  late  from  Nebraska." 

Bryan  had  the  best  of  Reed  one  day,  and  in  a  speech 


142        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

which  nearly  everybody  enjoyed,  especially  those  who 
had  felt  the  stings  of  Reed's  epigrams,  he  crowded  the 
big  man  from  Maine  to  the  wall.  Reed  had  delivered 
a  speech  in  Boston,  for  New  England  consumption,  in 
which  he  told  the  people  that  they  must  have  protection 
or  the  "omnivorous  West  would  take  their  factories 
from  them  " ;  that  manufacturing  industries  would  move 
to  the  source  of  supply  of  raw  materials.  Bryan  read 
extracts  from  that  speech  and  made  sarcastic  comments. 
Reed  was  without  a  reply  save  once.  After  reading  from 
the  speech,  Bryan  said: 

"I  do  not  agree  with  you  on  many  things." 

"I  am  very  happy  to  know  that,"  drawled  Reed. 

On  another  occasion  Reed  had  the  floor  and,  for  the 
benefit  of  Bryan,  said: 

1 '  It  is  one  of  the  commonest  things  in  human  nature 
to  cling  to  a  lot  of  things  after  they  have  ceased  to  be  of 
importance  or  advantage." 

In  explaining  the  disaster  of  November,  some  of  the 
Democrats  blamed  Cleveland;  others  said  it  was  the 
Gormanized-Wilson  tariff  law;  while  others  asserted 
that  it  was  due  wholly  to  Republican  misrepre 
sentations. 

The  session  had  not  been  far  advanced  before  there 
came  before  the  House  a  bill  which  Champ  Clark 
wanted  to  defeat.  After  considerable  maneuvering  he 
secured  an  hour  to  talk  on  the  measure. 

He  inquired  what  would  become  of  the  bill  if  he  talked 
out  his  hour,  and  was  told  by  the  Speaker  that  the  bill 
would  be  defeated.  ' '  That's  what  I  want, ' '  said  Champ, 


A  Year  of  Important  Events       143 

and,  after  saying  a  little  about  the  bill,  turned  to  other 
matters.  Among  other  things  he  paid  his  respects  to 
W.  Bourke  Cockran  and  charged  him  with  supporting 
monopolies.  Then  he  fixed  his  eyes  on  the  then  Boy 
Orator  of  the  Platte  and  started  in  to  pay  him  a  com 
pliment. 

"When  William  J.  Bryan  stood  up  here,"  he  began, 
"the  most  eloquent  tribune  that  the  people  have  had 
in  this  hall " 

Champ  was  interrupted  by  derisive  laughter  on  the 
Republican  side,  but  he  went  on: 

"for  the  last  thirty  years 

"The  'Last  of  the  Tribunes,'"  quoted  Boutelle  of 
Maine,  and  the  Republicans  tittered. 

"You  keep  your  mouth  shut,"  shouted  Champ  to 
Boutelle  angrily.  "You  have  got  more  mouth  and 
less  brains  than  any  man  that  ever  sat  in  the  American 
Congress." 

Of  course,  Champ  did  not  use  that  kind  of  language 
in  later  years.  Then  he  glared  around  and  repeated  his 
praise  of  the  Nebraskan,  saying: 

"When  Mr.  Bryan,  the  most  eloquent  tribune  of 
the  people  that  ever  sat  in  this  Congress,"  and  he 
quoted  something  Bryan  had  said  on  a  former  oc 
casion. 

Champ  Clark  was  extravagant  in  those  days  in  the 
use  of  words.  It  was  about  that  time  that  he  had  some 
thing  to  say  concerning  Grover  Cleveland.  "Two 
names,"  said  Clark,  "stand  out  as  meaning  all  that  can 
be  said  of  treachery  and  infamy.  They  are  Judas 


144        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Iscariot  and  Benedict  Arnold.  A  third  should  be 
added,  that  of  Grover  Cleveland." 

Those  who  heard  him  express  his  opinion  of  events 
in  Baltimore  in  1912  in  a  forceful  vein  are  aware  that, 
when  talking  of  traitors,  he  added  a  fourth  name  to  the 
list,  that  of  William  Jennings  Bryan. 

Champ  Clark  was  most  outspoken  on  every  phase  of 
public  affairs  when  he  came  to  Congress.  If  he  had 
been  nominated  for  President  many  of  his  expressions 
would  have  been  featured  during  the  campaign.  One 
day,  when  he  was  a  comparatively  new  member,  he  was 
speaking  of  pensions,  and  said : 

"If  any  man  served  in  the  Federal  army  and  got 
hurt  and  wants  a  pension,  I  will  vote  to  give  it  to  him, 
although  my  heart  was  with  Morgan  and  his  gang  of 
rough  riders." 

Bryan  took  a  position  in  Congress  which  he  has  al 
ways  maintained.  He  introduced  a  resolution  to 
amend  the  Constitution  to  make  the  President  ineligible 
for  election  after  one  term.  Two  years  after  introduc 
ing  the  resolution  he  reiterated  his  position  when  a 
Presidential  candidate,  and  on  other  occasions  he  stood 
by  the  one-term  idea,  finally  incorporating  it  into  the 
Democratic  platform  of  1912. 

During  the  short  session  of  the  Fifty-third  Congress 
Administration  Democrats  tried  to  pass  a  bill  embody 
ing  the  financial  views  of  the  President.  The  bill  was 
in  charge  of  William  M.  Springer  of  Illinois,  who, not  long 
before,  had  been  a  pronounced  free  silver  man.  The 
bill  proposed  a  gold  bond  issue  of  $500,000,000  and  was 


A  Year  of  Important  Events       145 

rather  a  staggering  proposition.  Reed  as  leader  of  the 
minority  in  the  House  so  adroitly  managed  his  side  as 
to  cause  the  defeat  of  the  bill,  though  offering  to 
Springer  enough  Republican  votes  to  pass  such  a 
measure  as  the  Republicans  wanted. 

The  Cleveland  Democrats  were  in  an  angry  mood  over 
the  defeat  of  the  measure,  although  they  must  have 
known  that  it  could  never  have  passed  the  Senate. 
They  gathered  about  Reed  after  the  House  adjourned. 
Louis  Sperry  of  Connecticut  was  the  chief  spokesman. 

"You  cut  a  pretty  figure  to-day,  you  great  big  bluff," 
he  said. 

"Why  didn't  you  agree  to  our  compromise?"  asked 
Reed. 

"Because,"  said  Sperry,  hotly,  "a  Democratic  Con 
gress  and  a  Democratic  President  have  not  reached  the 
point  where  they  have  to  allow  a  Republican  minority 
to  dictate  to  them." 

"In  that  case,"  drawled  Reed,  "why  didn't  you 
marshal  your  Democratic  majority  and  pass  your  bill? " 

At  this  Sperry  went  into  the  air.  "You  know  why," 
he  shouted.  "It  was  your  opportunity  to  secure  a 
sound  financial  law  and  you  fell  down.  But  you  cooked 
your  Presidential  goose.  You  will  never  be  nominated." 

Reed  was  rather  nonplussed  at  this  onslaught,  and 
all  he  could  say  was:  "At  all  events,  your  influence  will 
neither  help  nor  harm  me." 


VOL.  I — 10 


CHAPTER  XIV 

SILVER  DEMOCRATS  ORGANIZE 

Nation-wide  Plan  to  Capture  the  Convention  of  1896 — Venezuelan 
Boundary  Dispute — Hawaii  Troubles  the  Cleveland  Administration 
— Income  Tax  Decision — Democratic  Divisions  Cause  Republican 
Jubilation — Elkins  in  the  Senate — A.P.A.  in  Evidence — New  Men 
in  Senate  and  House. 

PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND  had  no  idea  of  calling 
the  Fifty-fourth  Congress  in  extra  session.  During 
his  first  Administration  he  had  refused  an  invitation 
from  a  friend  for  a  pleasant  outing,  excusing  himself  by 
saying,  "I  will  have  Congress  on  my  hands  at  that 
time."  He  did  not  like  Congress  and  lacked  the  art  of 
conciliation  in  dealing  with  Senators  and  Representa 
tives.  His  method  was  to  drive  and  that  was  not  al 
ways  possible,  even  with  a  Democratic  majority,  and 
he  was  well  aware  that  he  could  do  but  little  with  a 
Republican  House  and  a  refractory  Senate. 

Foreign  relations  kept  the  Administration  quite  well 
occupied  during  the  long  recess  of  1895.  The  Vene 
zuelan  boundary  dispute  was  the  most  important  matter 
before  the  State  Department.  Great  Britain  claimed 
territory  in  Venezuela  or  adjoining  that  Republic  on 
account  of  a  certain  Schomburgk  line  which  had  been 
surveyed  many  years  before.  The  claim  was  denied 
by  Venezuela.  Under  the  Monroe  Doctrine  the  South 

146 


U.  and  U. 


GROVER    CLEVELAND 


Silver  Democrats  Organize        147 

American  country  appealed  to  the  United  States,  and 
Secretary  Olney  opened  negotiations  with  the  British 
foreign  office.  They  dragged  along  throughout  the 
Summer  and  Fall. 

Hawaii  was  again  a  source  of  trouble.  The  Ameri 
cans  in  Hawaii  once  more  overthrew  the  monarchy,  and 
as  the  Republic  was  established  without  the  aid  of  the 
naval  forces  of  the  United  States  Cleveland  recognized 
fhe  new  government.  Lorin  A.  Thurston,  who  was  the 
first  minister  from  Hawaii  for  a  few  months,  was  a 
second  time  appointed  minister  to  the  United  States. 
Thurston 's  relations  with  the  Cleveland  administration 
had  never  been  cordial.  When  Gresham  was  Secretary 
of  State,  and  the  movement  was  on  foot  to  restore  Queen 
Liliuokalani,  there  were  several  stormy  interviews  be- 
cween  the  Secretary  and  Thurston.  On  one  occasion 
Gresham  accused  Thurston  of  being  responsible  for 
publications  adverse  to  the  Administration  and  reflect 
ing  upon  its  Hawaiian  policy.  Thurston  denied  the 
accusation. 

"You  need  not  deny  it,"  angrily  retorted  the  Secre 
te  ry.  "Your  newspaper  friends  have  betrayed  you." 

That  remark  only  served  to  increase  the  animosity 
already  intense  between  the  Administration  and  the 
newspaper  correspondents. 

The  differences  between  Thurston  and  the  State  De 
partment  were  renewed  when  he  became  minister  a 
second  time,  and  finally  his  recall  was  requested.  Of 
course,  the  new  Republic  could  not  do  otherwise  than 
acquiesce  in  such  a  demand. 


From  Harrison  to  Harding 

From  the  time  the  income  tax  was  incorporated  in  the 
Wilson  tariff  bill  until  the  final  decision  by  the  Supreme 
Court  it  was  a  subject  of  much  interest  in  Washington. 
Senator  Hill  had  not  only  denounced  it  with  vigor,  but 
he  appeared  as  counsel  in  the  case,  at  least  in  an  ad 
visory  capacity.  In  1 895  there  were  two  court  decisions 
on  the  law.  The  first  held  it  unconstitutional  by  a  four 
to  four  decision.  The  second,  on  an  application  for  a 
rehearing,  reaffirmed  the  first  decision  by  a  five  to  four 
verdict.  There  was  an  interesting  incident  during  the 
argument  of  the  case.  James  A.  Carter,  one  of  the 
special  counsel  for  the  Government,  closed  his  address 
to  the  Court  in  a  deep  sonorous  voice,  and  virtually 
warned  the  Court  that  an  adverse  decision  might  en 
danger  the  Constitution  and  the  Court.  "The  conse 
quence,"  he  said,  "may  be  disastrous  to  the  law  and 
may  be  accomplished  over  the  ruins  of  any  constitution 
or  of  any  court." 

Joseph  H.  Choate,  who  followed,  in  a  mild  and  gentle 
voice,  and  with  considerable  sarcasm,  referred  to  the 
remarks  of  Carter  as  a  threat  of  force,  and  said:  "It  is 
the  first  time  I  have  ever  heard  that  kind  of  an  argument 
in  the  Supreme  Court  and  I  hope  it  is  the  last." 

The  close  decision  of  the  case  and  the  interest  which  it 
had  aroused  caused  a  great  deal  of  adverse  criticism,  and 
found  voice  the  next  year  in  the  plank  in  the  Demo 
cratic  platform  which  was  directed  against  courts  in 
general.  Fuel  was  added  to  the  flame  at  the  time  of 
the  decision  by  the  report  that  one  of  the  Justices  had 
changed  his  mind  over  night  and  thus  secured  an  ad- 


Silver  Democrats  Organize        *49 

verse  decision.  The  five  who  decided  against  the  in 
come  tax  were  Fuller,  Field,  Gray,  Brewer  and  Shiras. 
The  four  who  were  for  the  tax  were  Harlan,  Brown, 
Jackson  and  White. 

The  dissenting  views  of  the  four  Justices  were  the 
basis  of  much  of  the  criticism  that  followed  the  decision. 

Justice  Field  at  that  time  was  a  very  old  man.  It 
had  been  suggested  that  he  retire,  but  he  refused  to  do 
so. 

"I'll  be  damned  if  I'll  retire  or  die  while  Cleveland 
is  President,"  he  said.  "I'll  never  give  Cleveland  an 
opportunity  to  appoint  my  successor." 

Field  wanted  to  be  Chief  Justice  at  the  time  Cleve 
land  named  Fuller  during  his  first  Administration, 
and  he  never  forgave  what  he  considered  an  affront. 

The  several  reverses  of  the  silver  men  in  Congress, 
which  were  due  to  the  influence  of  President  Cleveland, 
caused  them  to  look  forward  to  1896  with  a  view  of 
capturing  the  Presidency,  or  at  least  of  preventing  the 
Cleveland  wing  of  the  party  from  controlling  the  con 
vention.  During  1895  an  extensive  silver  organization 
was  perfected,  consisting  of  members  of  Congress  from 
both  houses  and  ramifying  in  every  direction  through 
out  the  country.  Senators  Harris  of  Tennessee,  Cockrell 
of  Missouri,  Daniel  of  Virginia  and  Jones  of  Arkansas, 
were  the  leaders  of  the  movement,  though  most  of  the 
work  fell  upon  Jones,  who  earned  the  reputation  as  an 
organizer  which  gave  him  prominence  when  the  silver 
Democrats  achieved  their  aim. 

The  Administration  was  not  wholly  idle,  and  efforts 


150        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

were  made  in  several  states  to  check  the  silver  move 
ment.  This  was  not  difficult  in  some  of  the  eastern 
states,  although  there  were  a  great  many  surprises,  as 
prominent  Democrats  from  unexpected  quarters  in 
dorsed  the  free  silver  doctrine  and  began  to  work 
earnestly  to  carry  out  the  designs  of  the  silver  organi 
zation. 

The  anti-silver  men  did  not  believe  it  was  possible 
for  the  silver  Democrats  to  control  the  national  conven 
tion  in  the  face  of  the  opposition  of  the  Democratic 
President.  They  were  absolutely  sure  that  the  silver 
men  could  not  obtain  the  two-thirds  of  the  delegates 
necessary  to  nominate  a  Democratic  candidate,  and 
so  they  felt  sure  of  preventing  the  nomination  of  a 
silver  man  for  President. 

"The  two-thirds  rule  will  not  stand  in  our  way  long," 
pleasantly  remarked  Jones.  "A  majority  can  make  its 
own  rules.  We  will  not  abrogate  the  two-thirds  rule 
unless  it  is  necessary,  but  a  majority  is  going  to  control 
the  next  Democratic  convention." 

The  Republicans  looked  on  with  glee.  The  prospects 
for  their  success  in  the  ensuing  campaign  were  bright 
and  rosy.  The  party  which  had  swept  the  country  in 
1890  and  again  in  1892  had  been  shot  to  pieces  in  1894; 
was  split  on  the  tariff  and  split  wide  open  on  silver; 
while  there  was  another  party,  the  Populist,  which  was 
making  great  inroads  upon  the  Democratic  solidity  in 
the  South. 

The  election  of  a  Republican  President  seemed  to 
them  a  foregone  conclusion,  and  naturally  every  man 


Silver  Democrats  Organize        is1 

with  any  possible  chance  was  an  active  candidate, 
while  others  were  standing  ready  for  a  dark  horse 
movement,  if  there  should  be  any  such  opportunity. 

The  outlook  for  the  Democracy  in  1895  was  very 
black.  The  party  was  not  only  torn  to  pieces  and  ap 
parently  disrupted,  but  the  condition  of  the  country 
was  deplorable  and  the  party  in  power  always  suffers 
during  hard  times.  If  any  one  had  said  in  1895  that 
the  next  Democratic  candidate  would  receive  6,500,000 
votes,  a  million  more  than  had  ever  been  given  to  any 
other  Democratic  candidate,  that  person  would  have 
been  declared  insane. 

The  Fifty-fourth  Congress  did  not  meet  until  De 
cember,  1895.  Many  changes  had  occurred  as  a  result 
of  the  election  in  1894.  On  the  Republican  side  in  the 
Senate  among  the  new  men  were  Carter  of  Montana, 
Nelson  of  Minnesota,  and  Elkins  of  West  Virginia, 
while  Burrows  of  Michigan,  Clark  of  Wyoming,  Wilson 
of  Washington  and  Pritchard  of  North  Carolina  had 
taken  their  seats  in  the  previous  Congress  a  short  time 
before  it  expired.  Pritchard  was  one  of  those  strange 
results  of  political  upheavals,  a  Republican  Senator 
from  one  of  the  states  of  the  South.  His  colleague,  who 
was  a  new  Senator,  was  Marion  Butler,  then  a  Populist, 
afterwards  chairman  of  the  Populist  national  committee 
and  later  a  leading  Republican.  Both  had  been  chosen 
by  a  fusion  of  Populists  and  Republicans  in  the  legisla 
ture.  Warren  of  Wyoming  made  his  reappearance. 
He  had  been  one  of  the  first  Wyoming  Senators. 

On  the  Democratic  side  were  seen  for  the  first  time 


152        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

in  the  Senate  Bacon  of  Georgia,  Tillman  of  South 
Carolina  and  Martin  of  Virginia. 

Stephen  B.  Elkins  was  the  best  known  of  all  the  new 
Republican  Senators.  He  had  been  a  Delegate  from 
New  Mexico  as  far  back  as  1873,  and  Secretary  of  War 
in  Harrison's  cabinet.  When  Elkins  went  to  the  Senate 
he  was  warmly  congratulated  by  Julius  C.  Burrows, 
who  had  known  him  in  the  House.  The  greeting  was 
all  the  more  hearty  because  Burrows  unconsciously  had 
been  a  contributing  cause  of  keeping  Elkins  out  of  the 
Senate  many  years  before.  It  happened  when  Elkins 
was  a  Delegate  and  had  almost  secured  the  admission  of 
New  Mexico  as  a  state.  He  would  have  been  one  of 
the  first  Senators.  The  bill  for  admission  had  passed 
the  Senate  and  was  pending  in  the  House.  There  was 
a  Democratic  majority,  but  Elkins  had  worked  with 
the  Democrats  and  secured  enough  votes  to  pass  his 
bill  as  soon  as  it  could  be  reached.  Although  Elkins 
had  been  a  soldier  on  the  Union  side,  he  never  paraded 
his  service.  He  served  in  the  border  warfare  in 
Missouri  and  had  many  friends  on  both  sides. 

Those  were  the  days  of  the  "  brigadiers "  in  the 
House,  as  the  former  Confederates  from  the  southern 
states  were  called.  The  bitter  animosities  of  the  Civil 
War  were  constantly  in  evidence,  and  the  feeling  between 
the  sections  as  represented  in  the  House  was  intense. 
On  the  Republican  side  no  man  was  more  bitter  in 
"bloody  shirt"  speeches  than  Burrows. 

One  day  Burrows  was  particularly  severe  and  de 
livered  a  fierce  denunciation  of  the  South,  which  raised 


Silver  Democrats  Organize        153 

a  tumult.  Elkins,  pursuing  a  habit  which  he  never 
corrected,  that  of  absenting  himself  a  great  deal  of  the 
time  and  only  occasionally  drifting  into  the  chamber, 
entered  just  in  time  to  see  a  large  number  of  men 
swarming  around  Burrows  and  congratulating  him. 
Elkins  did  not  know  what  it  was  all  about,  but  thinking 
it  was  a  good  thing  for  a  young  man  to  show  himself  and 
congratulate  an  older  member,  he  joined  the  procession 
and  was  as  fulsome  in  his  greetings  as  the  most  rock- 
ribbed  Yankee  in  the  House.  A  few  minutes  after 
wards  he  was  over  on  the  Democratic  side. 

"That  cooks  your  goose,"  remarked  one  of  his  erst 
while  southern  friends.  "Your  bill  will  never  pass; 
we'll  see  to  that." 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Elkins  in  amazement. 

"Oh,  you  can't  come  it  over  us  any  longer.  Here 
you  have  been  talking  about  burying  animosities  of  the 
war,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  and  yet  you  rush  up  and 
congratulate  that  damned  Yankee  after  he  has  made 
the  most  violent  and  unwarranted  attack  upon  the 
South  ever  heard  in  the  House.  You  can't  fool  us  any 
longer." 

Elkins  expostulated  and  explained,  but  it  was  no  use. 
The  Democrats  from  the  South  beat  his  bill,  and  New 
Mexico  waited  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  for 
statehood. 

Nelson  had  served  in  the  House  and  had  been 
Governor  of  his  state.  He  did  not  fare  well  in  committee 
assignments  in  the  Senate,  which  caused  him  to  say : 

"I'm  only  a  poor  old  Norwegian  farmer." 


i54        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Elkins  overheard  the  remark. 

"Don't  let  that  get  out,"  remarked  Elkins.  "Keep 
it  dark.  Collis  P.  Huntington,  the  Pacific  railroad 
magnate,  is  looking  for  just  such  kind  of  men.  Some 
day,  if  you  feel  that  way,  he'll  see  you  coming  across  the 
plaza  and  slip  you  into  his  pocket." 

John  L.  Wilson  and  Thomas  H.  Carter  had  both  en 
tered  the  House  when  their  states  were  admitted  in 
1889,  and  both  were  elected  to  the  Senate  in  the  winter 
of  1895.  The  A.P.A.  was  a  power  in  politics  at  the 
time,  and  it  is  surprising  that  Carter,  a  Catholic,  was 
allowed  to  get  through  in  Montana.  When  Wilson 
returned  to  Washington  to  take  his  seat  in  the  Senate, 
having  been  elected  to  fill  an  existing  vacancy,  I  asked 
him: 

"Is  there  any  A.P.A.  sentiment  in  your  state?" 

"Is  there?"  he  replied;  "why,  I  didn't  dare  congratu 
late  Tom  Carter  when  he  was  elected  because  it  would 
have  defeated  me." 

Not  long  after  he  entered  the  Senate  Carter  found  it 
necessary  to  make  a  silver  speech.  His  opponents  had 
always  cast  aspersions  upon  his  loyalty  to  the  white 
metal,  and  asserted  that  because  he  was  chairman  of  the 
Republican  national  committee  he  was  catering  to  the 
gold  element  in  the  party.  Carter's  position  assured 
him  a  good  audience  and  his  speech  represented  the 
sentiment  of  his  state. 

Soon  after,  a  group  of  newspaper  men  had  Senator 
Aldrich  in  the  marble  room  questioning  him  as  to 
the  meaning  of  Carter's  speech,  a  great  deal  of  signi- 


Silver  Democrats  Organize        155 

ficance  having  been  attached  to  it  because  Carter  was 
chairman  of  the  Republican  national  committee. 

"  Aren't  you  on  to  him  yet?"  asked  the  wily  Rhode 
Island  Senator.  ''He's  a  striker  and  wants  to  shake 
down  Wall  Street." 

That  was  the  Aldrich  way.  If  he  could  not  coax  a 
man  to  be  with  him  he  would  try  to  kill  him.  A  general 
publication  of  the  idea  which  Aldrich  sought  to  circulate 
would  have  ruined  Carter.  I  happened  to  hear  the 
remark  and,  as  a  friend  of  Carter,  I  explained  to  the 
group  of  newspaper  men  that  Carter  had  to  make  that 
kind  of  speech  to  get  in  line  with  his  home  people  or  he 
would  lose  his  grip  on  his  state.  That  view  rather  than 
the  Aldrich  insinuation  was  published,  and  it  was  of 
great  value  to  the  Montana  Senator.  In  after  years 
Aldrich  and  Carter  worked  in  close  alliance,  as  they 
found  each  other  mutually  helpful. 


CHAPTER  XV 
CLEVELAND'S  WAR  MESSAGE 

President  Ready  for  a  Conflict  With  Great  Britain  Over  the  Venezuelan 
Boundary — Ambassador  Bayard  Censured  by  the  House  for  a 
Speech  in  England — Cleveland  Holds  Congress  in  Session  During 
the  Holidays. 

V V /HEN  the  Fifty-fourth  Congress  assembled  foreign 
relations  were  the  most  important  subject  be 
fore  the  country,  and  a  short  time  after  the  session 
began  a  war  message  was  sent  to  Congress  by  President 
Cleveland  that  was  like  the  explosion  of  a  bombshell. 
During  the  summer  negotiations  had  been  in  progress 
between  Washington  and  London  regarding  the  Vene 
zuelan  boundary.  Secretary  Olney  tried  to  have  the 
matter  submitted  to  arbitration,  but  this  was  refused 
by  Lord  Salisbury.  It  was  generally  supposed  that 
England  was  to  have  her  own  way,  as  usual,  until 
Cleveland  sent  in  his  special  message  on  December  17, 
1895,  which  was  virtually  a  request  that  Congress 
prepare  for  war. 

The  manner  in  which  the  final  draft  of  the  message 
was  prepared  showed  an  interesting  side  of  Cleveland's 
character.  Secretary  Olney  wrote  the  message,  and  it 
was  the  usual  diplomatic  document  reciting  facts  for 
the  information  of  Congress. 

156 


Cleveland's  War  Message          15? 

"Let's  put  some  guts  in  it,"  remarked  Cleveland, 
when  he  had  finished  reading  it,  and  he  wrote  that  part 
which  really  proved  sensational,  wherein  he  said:  "It 
is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  resist  by  every 
means  in  its  power  the  aggression  of  Great  Britain  to 
exercise  control  or  authority  over  any  territory  which 
we  have  determined  belongs  to  Venezuela." 

Mr.  Cleveland  closed  this  war-like  message  with 
these  words : 

"I  am  fully  alive  to  the  responsibility  incurred,  and 
keenly  realize  the  consequences  that  may  follow. 

"I  am,  nevertheless,  firm  in  my  conviction  that  while 
it  is  a  grievous  thing  to  contemplate  the  two  great 
English-speaking  peoples  of  the  world  as  being  other 
wise  than  friendly  competitors  in  the  onward  march  of 
civilization  and  strenuous  and  worthy  rivals  in  all  the 
arts  of  peace,  there  is  no  calamity  which  a  great  nation 
can  invite  which  equals  that  which  can  follow  a  supine 
submission  to  wrong  and  injustice  and  the  consequent 
loss  of  national  self-respect  and  honor,  beneath  which 
are  shielded  a  people's  safety  and  greatness." 

There  was  no  mistaking  the  language,  and  although 
the  country  had  neither  an  army  nor  navy  which  could 
be  compared  to  the  force  of  Great  Britain,  there  was  an 
instantaneous  response  throughout  the  nation,  showing 
that  the  people  stood  behind  the  President.  Perhaps 
there  was  a  feeling  that  an  opportunity  had  arrived 
when  this  country  might  wipe  out  the  aggressions  and 
diplomatic  defeats  it  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  Great 
Britain.  But  England  did  not  want  war.  Lord  Salis- 


158        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

bury  made  light  of  the  Cleveland  message  and  intimated 
that  it  was  a  bluff,  or  words  to  that  effect,  but  in  a  short 
time  arrangements  were  made  to  submit  the  question  to 
arbitration.  In  the  final  settlement  of  the  boundary 
dispute  England  got  the  better  of  it,  gaining  about  all 
she  had  claimed.  But  the  position  which  Cleveland 
took  at  that  time  had  a  wholesome  effect  upon  the 
world  at  large. 

Congress  had  not  been  long  in  session  before  Cleve 
land  became  highly  angered  on  account  of  action  taken 
in  the  House  in  regard  to  a  speech  made  by  Ambassador 
Bayard  in  England.  Bayard  had  been  taken  from  the 
Senate  during  Cleveland's  first  term  to  become  Secre 
tary  of  State.  At  the  beginning  of  his  second  term 
Cleveland  showed  his  appreciation  of  Bayard  by  select 
ing  him  for  the  highest  diplomatic  post,  making  him  the 
first  Ambassador  from  the  United  States  to  any  foreign 
government. 

During  the  Autumn  of  1895  Bayard  made  a  speech 
in  England  in  which  he  spoke  in  high  praise  of  his  chief. 

"The  President,"  he  said,  "stands  in  the  midst  of  a 
strong,  self-confident,  and  of  ten-times  violent  people; 
men  who  seek  to  have  their  own  way.  It  takes  a  real 
man  to  govern  the  people  of  the  United  States." 

In  another  part  of  the  address  he  said :  ' '  In  my  own 
country  I  have  witnessed  the  insatiable  growth  of  that 
form  of  state  socialism  called  'protection." 

When  these  quotations  wer^read  in  the  House  there 
was  great  indignation  among  Republicans.  A  resolu 
tion  was  at  once  passed  calling  on  the  President  for 


Cleveland's  War  Message         159 

facts  regarding  the  speech.  One  member,  seeking 
more  limelight  than  others,  offered  a  resolution  of  im 
peachment,  which  of  course  would  have  been  impossible 
with  a  Democratic  Senate. 

In  due  time  the  President,  without  comment,  sent  to 
the  House  the  correspondence,  which  showed  that  the 
Ambassador  had  made  the  remarks  attributed  to  him. 
Several  members  thought  the  impeachment  proceedings 
should  be  pushed  and  Bayard  tried  before  the  Senate, 
hoping  that  the  bitter  feeling  among  the  Democrats  of 
that  body  would  prevail  to  such  an  extent  as  to  convict 
Cleveland's  friend.  But  the  Senate  would  not  have 
punished  Bayard  to  mortify  Cleveland,  particularly  as 
Bayard  had  once  been  a  member  of  that  body.  The 
more  effective  course  was  the  adoption  of  a  resolution 
of  censure.  This  action  intensified  the  already  bitter 
feeling  between  the  White  House  and  the  majority  in 
the  House  of  Representatives. 

The  Republicans  were  really  more  incensed  regarding 
the  remark  about  protection  than  the  other  about  the 
necessity  for  a  strong  man  to  govern  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  but  they  laid  more  stress  upon  that  than 
the  wTords  which  assailed  one  of  their  pet  principles. 

It  could  not  be  expected  that  a  Republican  House, 
dominated  by  a  man  like  Tom  Reed,  could  have  cordial 
relations  with  a  man  in  the  White  House  like  Grover 
Cleveland.  The  Administration  blamed  Reed  for  the 
defeat  of  its  financial  measure  in  the  previous  Congress. 
The  hostility  and  ill  feeling  was  intensified  by  an  act  of 
Cleveland's  just  before  the  holidays. 


160        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

The  financial  condition  of  the  country  was  very  bad 
at  that  time.  There  was  a  lack  of  revenue.  Bonds 
had  been  sold  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  replenishing 
the  gold  reserve,  but  in  reality  to  obtain  money  to  meet 
current  expenditures.  The  Supreme  Court  decision 
that  the  income  tax  law  of  1894  was  unconstitutional 
had  cut  off  a  large  amount  of  revenue.  TEe  President 
had  urged  financial  legislation  before  and  it  had  been 
refused.  That  was  the  situation  when  Congress  was 
ready  for  the  usual  holiday  recess  of  two  weeks.  Prepa 
rations  were  already  made.  The  resolution  had  been 
introduced  when  Cleveland  sent  in  a  message  pointing 
out  the  grave  financial  condition  confronting  the  nation 
and  saying  Congress  ought  not  to  adjourn  without 
taking  some  action  to  afford  relief. 

This  was  a  second  presidential  bombshell  in  less  than 
two  weeks,  but  of  an  entirely  different  character  from 
the  first.  Everybody  knew  that  no  measure  of  relief 
could  be  passed.  They  were  sure  that  Cleveland  knew 
it,  although  he  could  have  told  them  that  a  bill  authoriz 
ing  $500,000,000  gold  bonds  would  have  been  a  simple 
expedient.  But  such  a  bill  could  not  have  passed 
either  House.  The  Republicans  had  long  asserted  that 
the  real  cause  of  the  distress  was  due  to  Democratic 
tariff  legislation;  that  the  Wilson  law  did  not  furnish 
sufficient  revenue  and  allowed  a  flood  of  foreign  imports 
to  enter  the  country,  closing  down  American  mills  and 
factories.  Their  only  remedy  was  a  measure  increasing 
tariff  duties,  and  the  Democratic  Senate  would  not  pass 
such  a  measure.  There  was  an  absolute  deadlock. 


Cleveland's  War  Message          161 

Every  member  of  the  Senate  and  House  knew  that 
it  would  be  useless  to  remain  in  session  so  far  as  accom 
plishing  anything  was  concerned.  Most  of  them  said 
Cleveland  knew  it  and  had  sent  in  the  message  for  pure 
cussedness. 

Congress  remained  in  session,  or  at  least  it  pretended 
to  hold  daily  sessions,  but  there  was  a  general  under 
standing  that  those  who  wanted  to  leave  Washington 
could  do  so  without  missing  anything. 

On  the  first  of  January  the  President  gave  his  usual 
reception,  but  it  was  marked  by  the  absence  of  members 
of  Congress.  Senators  and  Representatives  were  in  the 
city,  but  they  did  not  pay  their  respects  to  the  Chief 
Magistrate.  Nor  did  he  care.  Cleveland  was  not  the 
man  to  lose  sleep  over  the  attitude  of  Congress  towards 
him. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

YEAR  OF   PRESIDENT  MAKING 

Interest  Centers  in  the  Contest  for  the  Republican  Nomination  Dur 
ing  the  Preliminary  Campaign— Reed  and  McKinley  Leading 
Candidates — Grosvenor,  the  Mathematician — Reed  Resentful  and 
Petulant— Republicans  Try  to  Force  Cleveland  in  Regard  to  Cuba 
—Senatorial  Story  Tellers — Tillman's  First  Speech. 

•""THE  year  1896  was  devoted  to  President  making. 
•*•  As  the  Democrats  seemed  so  hopelessly  split,  all 
interest  centered  upon  the  candidate  of  the  Republicans. 
The  most  prominent  candidates  were  Thomas  B.  Reed 
of  Maine  and  William  McKinley  of  Ohio.  William  B. 
Allison  of  Iowa  was  for  the  last  time  an  aspirant. 
Levi  P.  Morton  was  the  candidate  of  New  York.  Matt 
Quay  secured  for  himself  the  Pennsylvania  delegation, 
but  was  ready  to  trade  it  to  the  best  advantage.  Cush- 
man  K.  Davis  thought  he  was  Minnesota's  choice,  but 
that  state  was  ablaze  for  McKinley.  Even  the  united 
efforts  of  the  entire  delegation  in  Congress  put  forth 
for  Tom  Reed  could  not  secure  a  Delegate.  While 
nearly  all  the  Republican  members  of  the  House  were 
for  Reed,  they  could  not  stem  the  McKinley  tide  in 
many  states,  nor  could  they  interfere  with  favorite 
son  movements. 

In  the  Senate  there  was  no  one  actively  for  Reed 
except  Senator  Lodge  of  Massachusetts.     The  Maine 

162 


Year  of  President  Making         163 

Senators  did  not  even  mention  Reed  or  lift  a  hand  for 
him.  Nor  were  many  Senators  for  McKinley.  Neither 
of  these  leading  candidates  had  ever  been  "members 
of  the  club."  The  Senators  were  nearly  all  for  Allison, 
though  they  would  have  been  satisfied  with  Morton. 
Senator  Proctor  of  Vermont  disgusted  Reed  by  coming 
out  for  McKinley  and  breaking  the  solid  New  England 
delegation  upon  which  he  counted. 

Charles  H.  Grosvenor  of  Ohio,  though  he  had  been 
given  a  place  on  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  and 
made  a  member  of  the  powerful  Committee  on  Rules 
by  Reed,  was  an  earnest  McKinley  supporter.  It  was 
during  that  preliminary  campaign  that  Grosvenor 
earned  the  reputation  of  being  the  mathematician  of 
the  Republican  party.  Every  Monday  morning  he 
would  publish  a  table  showing  the  number  of  McKinley 
Delegates  chosen  up  to  that  time.  It  turned  out  that 
he  gave  a  very  accurate  forecast.  In  all  future  political 
contests  Grosvenor  assumed  the  role  of  statistical 
prophet  in  politics,  and  on  this  account  Champ  Clark 
named  him  "Old  Figures,"  a  title  which  stuck. 

Grosvenor  was  induced  to  make  the  McKinley  fore 
casts  by  John  Kennedy,  an  Ohio  newspaper  man,  who 
really  kept  track  of  the  data  and  prepared  the  tables 
which  were  the  basis  of  the  Grosvenor  statements. 
Kennedy  was  later  remembered  by  an  appointment  as  a 
member  of  the  Industrial  Commission. 

Reed's  manner  at  times  during  the  canvass  showed 
him  at  his  worst.  He  never  had  any  too  high  an  opin 
ion  of  McKinley.  He  regarded  the  Ohio  man,  even 


1 64        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

when  he  was  the  leader  of  the  House,  as  somewhat  lack 
ing  in  backbone,  and  as  inclined  to  grand-stand  dis 
plays  of  oratory.  McKinley  had  to  be  pushed  hard  to 
stand  for  all  the  Reed  methods  during  the  Fifty-first 
Congress. 

To  see  the  stampede  going  on  towards  McKinley  and 
to  feel  the  lukewarm  support  which  members  of  the 
House  gave  himself,  particularly  those  who  were  under 
obligations  to  him  for  committee  assignments  and  other 
favors,  made  Reed  resentful  and  petulant. 

More  than  that,  neither  he  nor  the  other  candidates 
seemed  to  be  aware  of  what  Mark  Hanna  was  doing. 
They  did  not  know  that  the  "business  man  in  politics" 
had  appeared  and  was  getting  results  by  any  means 
that  came  to  hand.  That  was  one  reason  that  Reed 
could  not  understand  why  daily  reports  came  from  the 
South  that  McKinley  Delegates  had  been  elected,  when 
he  received  telegrams  saying  that  Reed  Delegates  had 
been  chosen. 

Not  until  the  convention  was  about  to  assemble 
and  the  manner  in  which  the  Delegates  were  chosen  be 
came  known,  did  Reed  and  the  others  understand  the 
Hanna  manipulation  in  the  South.  They  did  not  know 
that  in  nearly  every  case,  even  where  they  had  a  ma 
jority  at  the  conventions,  their  supporters  had  been 
forced  into  the  position  of  bolters.  It  was  these  bolters, 
feeling  sure  that  they  would  be  seated  by  the  national 
convention,  who  telegraphed  that  Reed,  Allison,  or 
Morton  Delegates  were  chosen,  while  the  press  reports 
followed  the  regularity  of  the  proceedings  and  the  dis- 


Year  of  President  Making         165 

patches  showed  that  McKinley  Delegates  had  been 
chosen. 

As  to  the  opposition  of  the  Senate  Reed  cared  little. 
He  had  a  profound  contempt  for  the  Senate  and  many 
of  its  members.  He  said  things  about  the  Senate  and 
members  of  that  body  which  were  unbecoming  a  man 
in  his  position.  He  always  preferred  to  make  an 
epigram  rather  than  to  make  a  friend. 

"I  go  over  to  the  Senate,"  Reed  once  said,  "and  try 
to  become  interested  in  the  proceedings,  but  it  fre 
quently  happens  that  Morgan  or  some  other  'Ambassa 
dor  from  a  Sovereign  state '  is  talking.  I  try  to  listen, 
but  it  is  impossible.  I  find  myself  lost  in  a  maze  of 
words  and  my  mind  wandering.  And  so  I  come  away." 

It  was  Morgan  who  had  described  himself  as  an 
"Ambassador  from  a  Sovereign  state."  Stung  by 
Reed's  remark,  he  took  the  first  opportunity  to  refer 
to  the  Speaker  as  the  "Great  White  Czar  of  the  House," 
and  violated  the  rules  by  openly  criticizing  the  Speaker 
on  the  floor  of  the  Senate. 

During  the  session  of  Congress  the  Republicans 
sought  to  make  campaign  material  at  every  opportun 
ity.  There  was  a  disposition  to  force  the  hand  of  the 
President  on  Cuban  affairs.  The  Republicans  were 
generally  for  the  recognition  of  the  insurgents,  and 
were  almost  as  clamorous  then  as  the  Democrats 
became  on  the  same  side  two  years  later. 

Like  every  other  President,  Mr.  Cleveland  resented 
the  tendency  of  the  Senate  and  House  to  dip  into 
foreign  affairs.  Every  President  believes  that  the  man- 


1 66        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

agement  of  foreign  questions  is  wholly  an  executive  func 
tion  and  that  attempts  by  Congress  to  interfere  are  a 
usurpation  of  his  prerogative ;  and  the  most  sacred  thing 
to  the  different  branches  of  the  Government  is  preroga 
tive.  It  is  even  more  important  than  precedent. 
Among  the  prerogatives  of  Presidents  is  that  of  recog 
nition  of  foreign  governments  and  the  recognition  of 
belligerents  in  time  of  war  and  revolution.  The  de 
mand  for  the  recognition  of  belligerent  rights  to  the 
insurrectionists  in  Cuba,  and  also  for  recognition  of  the 
so-called  Republic  of  Cuba,  was  pressed  upon  the 
Senate  to  such  an  extent  during  the  Cleveland  Admin 
istration  that  the  President  had  Secretary  Olney  prepare 
and  publish  a  statement  on  the  subject  which  has 
been  considered  unanswerable  as  to  the  power  of  the 
President  in  all  such  cases. 

Among  the  Senators  who  criticized  the  President  was 
Senator  Lodge  of  Massachusetts,  and  in  a  speech  on 
the  subject  of  Cuba,  a  Spanish  possession,  it  was  quite 
natural  for  him  to  use  a  Spanish  quotation. 

Senator  Turpie  of  Indiana  replied.  As  he  talked  his 
grizzled  old  head  shook  from  side  to  side,  and  quite  as  a 
matter  of  course  and  without  undue  emphasis,  he  said : 

"The  Senator  from  Massachusetts  has  seen  fit  to 
quote  Spanish.  I  will  take  the  liberty  of  quoting  a 
Spanish  proverb  which  applies  to  him :  '  Pigmies  stuffed 
and  placed  on  Alps  are  pigmies  still.* ' 

Lodge  had  been  known  as  the  scholar  of  the  Senate, 
and  he  was  naturally  perfectly  willing  to  live  up  to  that 
idea.  As  a  scholar,  however,  Turpie  was  considered 


Year  of  President  Making         167 

his  superior.  Senator  Davis  of  Minnesota,  himself  a 
scholar  of  distinction,  said  that  Turpie  was  one  of  the 
most  profound  scholars  he  had  ever  known.  Davis  also 
had  a  high  opinion  of  Senator  Quay's  scholarly  attain 
ments,  which  he  said  were  singularly  striking  in  many 
lines  of  learning  and  reading. 

Those  were  the  days  of  Senate  stories.  On  one  occa 
sion  I  heard  Senator  Blackburn  of  Kentucky  tell  the 
story  of  how  he  pulled  William  E.  Chandler's  ear  when 
they  were  both  new  in  the  Senate.  The  story  came 
out  at  a  table  in  the  Senate  restaurant,  when  there  were 
present  such  famous  raconteurs  as  Joe  Blackburn, 
George  Vest,  John  P.  Jones  of  Nevada,  and  Tom  Carter, 
and  all  at  their  best.  The  stories  told  that  afternoon 
would  be  invaluable  if  they  could  be  retold  with  all  the 
details. 

Vest,  who  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  told  stories 
about  Blackburn,  and  the  latter  retaliated  by  giving 
two  versions  of  why  Vest  left  Kentucky,  one  the  Vest 
version  and  the  other  the  Blackburn  version,  which 
Joe  insisted  was  the  true  one.  Then  Vest  told  a  story 
about  a  meeting  of  several  Democratic  politicians  at  a 
national  convention  held  in  Cincinnati  years  before.  A 
half  dozen  leaders  met  at  a  dinner  to  settle  the  great 
questions  to  come  before  the  convention,  when  Joe 
McDonald  of  Indiana  and  John  T.  Morgan  of  Alabama 
got  into  a  fight  about  carp,  a  fish  which  had  been 
introduced  into  the  country  from  Germany. 

This  fight  story  led  to  a  demand  that  Blackburn 
should  tell  the  story  of  pulling  Chandler's  ear,  which  he 


168        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

did  in  all  its  details,  even  to  arranging  a  table  and 
showing  where  different  Senators  were  seated  in  the 
committee  room. 

Just  as  Blackburn  was  beginning  the  story  he  turned 
to  me  and  said : 

"You  are  a  newspaper  man.  If  you  print  this  story 
I  shall  deny  it." 

And  that  recalls  an  experience  I  had  with  Senator 
Pettigrew.  He  gave  me  a  good  news  story  which  he 
wanted  published. 

"But,  Senator,"  I  said,  "I  can't  use  this  unless  I  can 
put  it  on  to  someone  and  say  he  said  it." 

"Oh,  all  right,"  responded  Pettigrew,  "just  put  it  on 
me  and  I'll  deny  it.  The  denial  will  not  catch  up  with 
the  story." 

Benjamin  R.  Tillman  made  his  first  speech  during 
the  preliminary  Presidential  campaign.  He  was  by 
no  means  an  unknown  character  when  he  first  appeared 
in  the  Senate.  He  had  been  Governor  of  South  Caro 
lina  and  put  through  the  celebrated  dispensary  law 
making  the  state  the  owner  and  dispenser  of  liquors. 
While  he  was  Governor  there  was  a  celebration  at 
Columbia,  South  Carolina's  capital,  of  sufficient  impor 
tance  to  cause  the  attendance  of  President  Cleveland. 
Gath  (George  Alfred  Townsend)  was  there  to  write  a 
story  about  the  affair,  and  he  afterwards  told  me  of  his 
impressions. 

"Everybody,  especially  the  strangers,"  he  said, 
"were  more  interested  in  the  Governor  than  the  Presi 
dent,  I  among  the  rest.  Finally,  I  saw  Cleveland  riding 


Year  of  President  Making         169 

by  with  the  worst  looking  train  robber  I  ever  laid  eyes 


on." 


"  'That's  him,'  said  some  one,  'that's  Ben  Tillman.' 

"'Hoorawer  for  Ben  Tillman!'  shouted  a  red-shirted 
roughneck,  and  the  crowd  broke  into  cheers  for  Tillman 
instead  of  for  Cleveland." 

Tillman's  first  speech  was  directed  at  the  President. 
He  read  it,  having  thus  prepared  it,  he  said,  so  that  he 
would  not  overstep  the  bounds  of  Senate  decorum. 
What  he  might  have  said  but  for  this  precaution -4 
cannot  imagine,  for  it  was  sizzling  hot  as  it  was. 

He  made  up  in  action  what  he  felt  was  suppressed  by 
such  careful  preparation.  "Pitchfork  Ben"  was  never 
in  better  form.  He  would  shout,  flourish  his  arms, 
grind  out  his  words  between  set  teeth,  and  run  all  the 
gamut  of  impassioned  oratory  and  invective.  Occa 
sionally  he  would  spin  around  like  a  toe  dancer,  the 
proof  sheets  of  his  speech  waving  in  the  air. 

"If  I  had  known,"  he  said  at  one  point,  "that  Grover 
Cleveland  would  have  turned  out  to  be  the  traitor  that  he 
is,  I  would  have  delivered  the  electoral  vote  of  South 
Carolina  to  another  candidate." 

During  his  speech  a  page  boy  placed  a  glass  of  water 
before  him,  but  he  waved  the  boy  away. 

"I  never  wet  my  whistle  when  I  am  talking,"  he 
said.  "I  can't  run  a  windmill  on  water." 

There  was  a  titter  in  the  galleries  checked  by  the 
presiding  officer. 

"Poor  muffled  brutes  in  the  galleries,"  Tillman 
commented. 


170        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

He  derided  senatorial  courtesy.  ' '  Senators  sneak  away 
into  the  cloak  rooms,"  he  said,  as  a  number  of  them  left 
the  chamber,  "but  they  can't  hide  themselves  from  the 
people.'* 

One  of  the  most  amusing  things  in  the  Senate  in  the 
olden  days,  in  the  days  of  such  senatorial  Senators  as 
Hoar  of  Massachusetts,  Hale  and  Frye  of  Maine,  Platt 
of  Connecticut,  Harris  of  Tennessee,  and  several  more 
like  them,  was  to  watch  them  suffer  when  some  new  man 
shattered  the  traditions  of  the  Senate.  Since  Tillman 
first  appeared  we  have  had  a  number  of  men  who  caused 
the  old  sticklers  for  the  proprieties  much  anguish. 
Besides,  "the  Senate  is  not  what  it  used  to  be." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

HANNA  NOMINATES  MCKINLEY 

He  First  Secured  a  Majority  of  the  Republican  National  Committee 
and  Then  Systematized  the  Election  of  Southern  Delegates— Who. 
Framed  the  Gold  Plank? — Bolt  of  Silver  Republicans  Eagerly 
Watched  by  Bryan. 

V V/HEN  Marcus  A.  Hanna  determined  to  nominate 
**  William  McKinley  for  President,  he  started  out 
in  a  business-like  way.  As  a  business  man  he  applied 
business  methods  to  politics.  When  he  wanted  any 
thing  in  business  he  talked  the  other  fellow  out  of  it; 
failing  in  that  he  bought  it.  He  had  been  a  delegate  to 
the  national  conventions  of  1884  and  1888.  He  knew 
how  the  southern  delegate  had  been  played  in  the  con 
vention  of  1888,  at  which  his  candidate,  John  Sherman, 
had  been  the  victim  of  delegate  purchases. 

Hanna's  first  move  when  he  decided  to  nominate  Mc 
Kinley  was  to  secure  the  Republican  national  committee. 
He  sent  agents  to  different  members  of  the  committee 
and  secured  thirty -five  of  the  fifty  members  who  agreed 
to  "stand  firm  for  the  right,"  which  meant,  as  it  turned 
out,  for  the  McKinley  delegates  from  the  southern 
states. 

Then  he  sent  emissaries  through  the  South,  supplied 
with  the  necessary  means  to  secure  results.  The 

171 


From  Harrison  to  Harding 

formula  was  simple.  The  chairmen  and  secretaries  of 
the  different  state  and  congressional  committees  were 
fixed  for  McKinley  and  told  how  to  conduct  the  con 
ventions  and  elect  delegates.  They  were  to  retain 
control  at  all  hazards;  the  chairman  of  the  committee 
must  name  the  temporary  chairman  and  see  that  he 
was  elected;  this  temporary  chairman  was  to  retain 
control  until  he  passed  it  over  to  another  safe  man,  the 
idea  being  to  have  all  officers  the  "right  kind  of  men." 
These  officers  were  to  certify  to  the  election  of  delegates, 
and  be  sure  that  they  certified  the  election  of  McKinley 
men.  At  most  of  the  conventions  there  was  a  Hanna 
agent  on  the  ground  to  see  that  the  program  was  carried 
out.  Oftentimes  the  record  showed  that  the  chairman 
of  the  committee  and  secretary  did  everything  and 
certified  themselves  as  delegates. 

The  friends  of  Reed,  Allison  and  Morton  also  under 
took  to  get  delegates  in  the  South.  They  relied  on  the  ob 
solete  idea  of  securing  a  majority  of  the  convention.  In 
many  conventions  the  friends  of  one  or  another  of  these 
candidates  had  a  majority,  but  they  were  not  recog 
nized  to  make  a  motion  or  to  gain  technical  control  of 
the  convention,  i  When  they  saw  the  chairman  running 
the  convention  in  his  own  way,  refusing  to  put  anything 
to  a  vote  or,  if  he  did,  declaring  his  side  had  carried  it,  the 
majority  would  bolt,  organize  a  convention  of  their  own 
sometimes  in  the  same  room,  elect  their  own  officers 
and  choose  delegates.  But  it  turned  out  that  when  the 
national  committee  passed  on  the  credentials  and  rights 
of  delegates  to  seats  in  the  convention  only  "regular" 


©  U.  and  U. 


WILLIAM     McKINLEY 


Hanna  Nominates  McKinley       173 

delegates  were  seated,  and  these  were  McKinley  men. 
A  chain  of  "regularity"  was  proved  for  them,  and  they 
were  voted  in  by  a  vote  of  thirty-five  to  fifteen,  as  case 
after  case  reached  that  stage  of  the  proceedings.  An 
attorney  presented  the  side  of  the  McKinley  delegates 
in  each  case,  and  he  had  the  papers  to  show  how  the 
McKinley  men  had  maintained  the  regularity  of  the  con 
vention  proceedings  from  the  time  the  chairman  called 
the  convention  together  until  it  adjourned. 

The  Hanna  method  was  more  certain  than  the  anti 
quated  methods  of  1888  and  other  years.  Then,  the 
delegates  were  captured  after  they  reached  the  con 
vention  city.  The  Hanna  method  was  more  effective. 
Until  the  national  committee  had  actually  seated  these 
delegates  their  votes  were  not  worth  dickering  for.  If 
they  sold  out  after  the  national  committee  had  seated 
them  they  could  be  thrown  out  and  other  men  seated. 
By  the  time  the  national  committee  had  passed  upon 
the  contested  cases  it  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that 
McKinley  would  be  nominated  and  the  hopes  of  patron 
age  were  enough  to  hold  them.  It  was  less  expensive 
and  more  certain.  No  wonder  it  was  copied  in  later 
years. 

The  hearings  on  these  contested  cases  became  a 
farce.  Finally,  members  of  the  committee  became  tired 
and  would  say  to  Judge  Thompson  of  Ohio,  the  Hanna 
attorney  handling  the  cases:  "Judge,  which  is  your  set 
of  rascals?  Let  us  vote  'em  in  and  be  done  with  it." 

It  is  quite  likely  that  McKinley  would  have  been 
nominated  without  all  the  precaution  in  regard  to 


174        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

southern  delegates.  But  that  might  have  necessitated 
making  some  trades.  Concessions  of  some  sort  might 
have  been  necessary  in  order  to  get  the  Pennsylvania 
delegates  and  the  delegates  elected  for  Allison.  Of 
course,  Hanna  would  have  secured  them,  but  with  his 
southern  delegates  he  was  in  control  of  the  convention 
and  under  no  obligations  to  any  one.  When  the 
McKinley  delegates  from  the  South  were  seated* 
Hanna  had  a  clear  working  majority. 

I  sat  through  all  the  sessions  of  that  committee,  last 
ing  more  than  a  week,  and  saw  the  machine  perform 
like  clockwork.  In  1908  the  same  methods  were 
adopted  for  seating  Taft  delegates,  and  the  system 
became  known  as  the  "steam-roller."  Mark  Hanna 
was  the  original  steam-roller  man  in  politics. 

While  the  national  committee  was  in  session  the 
friends  of  McKinley  worked  on  a  platform,  the  most 
troublesome  feature  of  which  was  the  money  plank. 
In  Hanna's  rooms  there  gathered  from  time  to  time 
Herman  H.  Kohlsaat  of  Illinois,  Senator  Redfield  Proc 
tor  of  Vermont,  Henry  C.  Payne  of  Wisconsin,  Myron 
T.  Herrick  of  Ohio,  William  R.  Merriam  of  Minnesota, 
with  Hanna  and  William  Hahn  of  Ohio  going  in  and  out. 
These  men  were  drafting  a  money  plank.  Hanna  told 
them  he  wanted  as  little  to  do  with  it  as  possible,  but 
when  the  men  named  had  completed  the  plank  he  ap 
proved  it.  Kohlsaat  was  the  most  insistent  of  all  that 
the  word  gold  ohould  be  in  the  plank.  His  determina 
tion  caused  Hanna  to  call  him  a  ' '  damn  crank ! "  Hanna 
was  for  a  declaration  which  would  not  cause  the  silver 


Hanna  Nominates  McKinley       175 

men  of  the  West  to  bolt  the  convention  and  lessen  the 
chances  of  McKinley 's  election  after  he  was  nominated. 
Melville  E.  Stone,  General  Manager  of  the  Associated 
Press,  wrote  the  final  draft,  because,  as  one  of  those 
present  remarked, ' '  Stone  was  the  only  man  present  who 
could  spell  the  word  'inviolable'  which  was  used  in  the 
draft."  Hanna  told  Myron  Herrick  to  send  it  to  Mc 
Kinley,  which  was  done,  and  McKinley  approved  it. 
That  was  the  gold  plank  of  the  St.  Louis  convention, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  words  inserted  by  the  com 
mittee  on  resolutions. 

On  Friday  evening  before  the  convention  met,  I  was 
shown  a  copy  of  the  proposed  financial  plank,  and  was 
told  how  it  had  been  prepared,  together  with  the  names 
of  the  men  who  had  participated  in  the  conference.  I 
was  told  that  while  Hanna  said  he  wanted  as  little  to 
do  with  it  as  possible,  he  approved  it  in  the  form  in 
which  it  had  been  drawn.  I  was  requested  not  to  send 
the  plank  verbatim,  and  in  the  dispatch  which  I  filed 
that  night  I  sent  the  following  paraphrase  of  the  famous 
money  plank: 

When  the  men  from  the  East  reach  St.  Louis  they  will 
find  that  the  close  friends  of  Major  McKinley  are  ready 
to  offer  them  a  financial  plank  that  they  can  agree  upon 
without  hesitancy.  Several  drafts  have  been  prepared 
and  a  form  has  been  agreed  upon  that  is  satisfactory. 
It  will  declare  against  the  free  coinage  of  silver  unless 
it  should  be  brought  about  by  international  agreement. 
No  ratio  is  mentioned  and  in  this  respect  it  is  more 
agreeable  to  the  gold  men.  It  will  also  declare  that  the 


176        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Republicans  are  against  the  debasement  of  the  currency 
and  there rore  are  in  favor  of  the  present  gold  standard. 

The  Republican  party  will  be  given  credit  for  having 
brought  about  the  resumption  act  which  has  also  main 
tained  every  dollar  at  parity,  whether  coin  or  paper, 
and  the  resolution  will  declare  that  the  standard  of 
money  should  be,  as  it  always  has  been  and  is  now  equal 
to  that  of  the  most  enlightened  nations  of  the  world. 

If  the  resolution  should  be  changed  it  will  be  by  the 
committee  on  resolutions  or  the  convention  itself,  but 
this  is  not  likely. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  at  the  time  this  dis 
patch  was  written  Hanna  had  absolute  control  of  the 
convention  and  nothing  was  being  done  contrary  to  his 
wishes.  So  far  as  possible  I  wanted  it  understood  that 
the  money  plank  as  framed,  and  approved  as  it  had  been 
by  Hanna,  would  be  the  plank  adopted.  Owing  to  the 
circumstances  under  which  I  was  given  the  information 
I  could  not  make  a  more  explicit  statement.  Just  to 
show  how  nearly  accurate  was  the  dispatch  of  Friday 
evening  I  give  the  money  plank  as  it  was  adopted  by 
the  committee  on  resolutions  and  afterwards  by  the 
convention : 

The  Republican  party  is  unreservedly  for  sound 
money.  It  caused  the  enactment  of  a  law  providing 
for  the  resumption  of  specie  payments  in  1879,  and 
since  then  every  dollar  has  been  as  good  as  gold.  We 
are  unalterably  opposed  to  every  measure  calculated  to 
debase  our  currency  or  impair  the  credit  of  our  country. 
We  are  therefore  opposed  to  the  free  coinage  of  silver, 
except  by  international  agreement  with  the  leading 


Hanna  Nominates  McKinley       177 

nations  of  the  earth,  which  agreement  we  pledge  ourselves 
to  promote,  and  until  such  agreement  can  be  obtained 
the  existing  gold  standard  must  be  maintained.  All  of 
our  silver  and  paper  currency  must  be  maintained  at 
parity  with  gold,  and  we  favor  all  measures  designed  to 
maintain  inviolable  the  obligations  of  the  United  States, 
of  all  our  money,  whether  coin  or  paper,  at  the  present 
standard,  the  standard  of  the  most  enlightened  nations 
of  the  earth. 

It  will  be  noted  that  every  important  matter  in  the 
financial  plank  was  covered  in  the  dispatch  of  Friday 
evening  save  the  phrase  "which  we  pledge  ourselves  to 
promote,"  inserted  after  the  declaration  about  an  inter 
national  agreement.  That  phrase  was  inserted  by  the 
committee  on  resolutions  and  appears  in  the  handwrit 
ing  of  Senator  Lodge,  not  because  he  wanted  it,  but  as 
a  sop  to  some  of  the  silver  men,  who  asserted  that  they 
could  point  to  it  as  a  promise  of  international  bi- 
metalism  which  meant  something. 

The  story  has  been  told  that  Senator  Lodge  and 
Senator  Platt  were  responsible  for  the  gold  declaration. 
It  has  been  stated  that  when  they  arrived  in  St.  Louis 
they  sought  out  Hanna,  and  handed  him  the  gold 
plank,  Lodge  saying : 

"You'll  put  this  in  the  platform  or  we'll  rip  you  up 
the  back!" 

That  is  not  what  occurred.  Tom  Platt  reached  St. 
Louis  on  Thursday  evening,  but  did  not  interest  himself 
in  the  platform.  Senator  Lodge  arrived  on  Saturday. 
It  is  true  that  there  was  a  sharp  exchange  between 

VOL.  I — 12 


From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Hanna  and  Lodge.  Lodge  went  into  Hanna's  room  on 
Monday  and  told  the  McKinley  leader  that  he  was 
going  to  demand  a  gold  declaration. 

"The  hell  you  say!"  Hanna  retorted. 

Then  followed  a  further  interchange  and  Lodge 
left. 

Hanna  did  not  want  to  tell  Lodge  that  McKinley's 
friends  had  agreed  upon  a  money  plank,  as  he  was 
avoiding  the  appearance  of  bossism  so  far  as  he  could. 
The  fact  is  that  on  the  Saturday  before  the  conven 
tion  it  was  so  well  understood  that  a  gold  declara 
tion  was  to  be  put  in  the  platform  that  the  silver 
men  began  to  organize  the  movement  to  leave  the 
convention. 

When  Senator  Lodge  arrived  he  endeavored  to  rally 
the  scattering  Reed  forces,  which  had  been  thrown  into 
confusion  by  a  statement  of  Joe  Manley  of  Maine,  the 
Reed  manager  in  Lodge's  absence,  to  the  effect  that 
McKinley  would  be  nominated.  I  was  at  dinner  that 
evening  with  Tom  Carter,  Sam  Fessenden  and  other 
Reed  men,  and  had  just  told  them  about  the  Manley 
statement,  throwing  up  the  Reed  sponge,  and  said  that 
I  had  put  it  on  the  wire  for  publication.  At  that  mo 
ment  Manley  came  in  and  paused  at  the  table,  when 
Fessenden  remarked : 

"Joe,  God  hates  a  quitter." 

So  severe  was  the  criticism  of  Reed's  friends  that 
Manley  issued  another  statement  of  an  explanatory 
character,  saying  that  his  first  statement  was  based  on 
the  action  of  the  national  committee  which  seemed 


Hanna  Nominates  McKinley       179 

determined  to  seat  all  the  McKinley  delegates  in  con 
test,  and  this  meant  that  McKinley  would  have  a 
majority  of  the  convention. 

As  the  time  for  the  convention  to  assemble  ap 
proached,  it  was  known  definitely  that  the  gold  plank 
would  be  adopted  and  that  McKinley  would  be  nomi 
nated.  Among  several  men  there  was  intense  prejudice 
against  Hanna,  none  of  whom  was  more  bitter  than 
Senator  Pettigrew  of  South  Dakota.  Arranging  the 
preliminaries,  the  national  committee  selected  Rabbi 
Saale  to  deliver  the  opening  prayer. 

"Rabbi,  give  us  a  hell  of  a  good  prayer,"  said  Chair 
man  Carter,  when  he  notified  him  of  his  selection. 

"You've  heard  how  appropriately  they  are  proceed 
ing  with  this  gold  convention  of  the  money  changers," 
said  Pettigrew,  viciously.  "They've  selected  a  Jewish 
rabbi  for  the  opening  prayer  and  his  name  is  Saale. 
Most  appropriate;  it  shows  that  Hanna  realizes  the 
eternal  fitness  of  things." 

The  high  light  of  the  convention  was  the  bolt  of  the 
silver  men  after  the  gold  plank  was  adopted.  It  was 
rather  a  sad  sight  to  see  Senator  Teller  lead  that  pro 
cession  out  of  the  hall.  Close  to  him  was  big  Archie 
Stevenson,  but  Archie  returned  soon  after  and  in  1912 
was  the  most  intense  standpatter  that  voted  to  oust 
Roosevelt  delegates.  Then  there  was  Frank  Pettigrew 
of  South  Dakota,  Fred  Dubois  of  Idaho,  Frank  Cannon 
of  Utah,  Charlie  Towne  of  Minnesota,  Charlie  Hart- 
man  of  Montana,  besides  the  other  delegates  from  the 
silver  states  with  few  exceptions.  All  those  named, 


180        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

with  the  exception  of  Stevenson,  finally  landed  in  the 
Democratic  party. 

Carter  and  Lee  Mantle  of  Montana  remained. 
Mantle  stood  on  a  chair  and  sought  recognition,  but 
the  crowd  only  howled. 

"Damn  it,  I've  a  good  notion  to  go  with  the  boys," 
said  Mantle  to  Carter.  He  was  prevailed  upon  to 
stay  and  made  a  speech  explaining  his  position.  Later 
he  did  join  the  silver  Republicans,  but  afterwards 
returned  to  his  first  allegiance. 

The  names  of  the  alternates  were  called  and  they  took 
the  places  of  the  bolters,  and  thereby  hangs  a  story. 
Among  the  alternates  from  Montana  was  Wilbur  F. 
Sanders,  former  Senator.  Between  himself  and  Carter 
there  was  a  bitter  political  warfare.  The  names  of  the 
alternates  were  arranged  by  cards,  and  those  on  top 
would  be  called  first.  When  it  was  certain  that  there 
would  be  a  bolt,  Sanders  came  up  to  the  Secretary's 
desk  and  asked  for  the  Montana  list.  After  looking 
them  over  he  returned  them.  Carter  as  chairman  of 
the  national  committee  had  a  seat  on  the  platform  and 
he  saw  what  Sanders  was  doing.  While  Sanders  was  re 
turning  to  his  seat  among  the  alternates,  Carter  took  the 
Montana  cards  and  re-arranged  them.  He  came  down 
to  the  newspaper  seat  where  I  was  sitting  and  asked: 

1  'Did  you  see  that?" 

"No;  what  was  it?" 

"Wilbur  Fiskc  fixed  up  the  Montana  cards  so  that 
his  name  would  be  called  first  when  the  boys  go  out. 
I've  just  shifted  the  cut  on  him." 


Hanna  Nominates  McKinley       181 

The  look  on  Sanders'  face  when  his  name  was  not 
called  was  an  amusing  feature  for  those  who  knew 
what  had  happened. 

One  other  side-light:  An  ex-Congressman,  William 
J.  Bryan  of  Nebraska,  was  reporting  the  proceedings 
of  the  convention  for  Gilbert  Hitchcock's  paper,  the 
Omaha  World-Herald.  He  occupied  one  of  the  seats 
far  back  in  the  press  stand.  When  the  silver  men 
bolted  he  came  down  to  the  front,  stepping  on  the  desks, 
for  everybody  was  standing  on  the  desks  at  the  time. 
Some  one  stepped  on  my  paper  as  I  was  writing  bulle 
tins  at  the  desk  in  the  front  row,  and  looking  up  I  saw 
it  was  Bryan. 

With  intense  interest  he  was  looking  at  the  departing 
silver  men,  while  different  leather-lunged  men  in  the 
hall  shouted:  "Go  to  Chicago!"  "Take  the  Demo 
cratic  train!"  although  none  said  "good  bye  and  God 
bless  you." 

There  was  a  gleam  of  joy  in  Bryan's  eye  and  the 
least  smile  of  satisfaction  flitted  across  his  face.  Did  he 
then  have  a  vision  of  what  was  to  happen  three  weeks 
later? 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  MAN   FROM   NEBRASKA 

William  J.  Bryan,  the  Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte,  Solves  the  Democratic 
Problem— Party  at  Sea  Until  he  Makes  his  Great  "Cross  of  Gold" 
Speech — Tillman's  Determined  Dominance — Populist  Convention 
of  1896  a  Wonderful  Gathering — Politicians  Force  Bryan's  Nomina 
tion  on  the  New  Party — "Middle  of  the  Road"  Slogan  Fails- 
Allen  of  Nebraska  the  Man  of  the  Hour. 

X  TO  one  ever  predicted  the  nomination  of  William  J. 
*  ^  Bryan  at  Chicago  in  1896.  Among  all  the  Demo 
crats  assembled  there,  all  anxious  for  the  right  kind  of  a 
candidate,  none  mentioned  Bryan  until  after  he  had 
made  his  speech  defending  the  silver  plank  in  the  plat 
form  as  reporced  by  the  majority  of  the  committee  on 
resolutions.  The  Sunday  before  the  convention  as 
sembled,  Senator  Stephen  M.  White  of  California  went 
over  the  whole  situation  with  me,  and  we  canvassed  the 
list  of  those  mentioned  with  a  view  of  trying  to  hit  upon 
a  possibility,  but  we  could  find  no  one  that  was  likely 
to  be  nominated.  Bland  was  in  the  lead  as  to  dele 
gates  supporting  him,  but  there  were  objections  which 
made  his  nomination  impossible.  At  that  time  he  was 
old  and  broken,  a  man  of  a  single  idea,  silver.  It  was 
also  asserted  that  religion  would  cut  a  figure  in  the 
campaign  if  he  were  nominated  because  Mrs.  Bland 
was  a  Catholic.  Senator  White  had  been  suggested 

182 


The  Man  from  Nebraska          183 

for  the  nomination,  but  he  took  himself  out  very 
promptly  by  saying:  "I  am  a  Catholic;  besides,  I  am 
too  far  west." 

Joe  Bailey  was  at  the  convention  with  thirty  Texas 
delegates  earnestly  supporting  Bland.  "I  have  ex 
amined  his  record,"  said  Bailey,  "and  I  find  that  he 
has  been  right  and  wise  on  most  of  the  great  questions 
coming  before  Congress." 

Ohio  was  supporting  John  R.  McLean ;  Kentucky  was 
for  Joe  Blackburn;  South  Carolina  was  for  Ben  Till- 
man;  Iowa  and  a  few  other  western  states  supported 
Horace  Boies,  while  the  men  who  had  bolted  the 
Republican  convention  were  noisily  for  Senator  Teller. 

Boies  had  left  the  Republican  party  only  a  short 
time  before,  but  attracted  attention  because  he  had 
been  elected  Governor  of  Iowa.  But  there  was  a  dis 
tinct  objection  to  naming  any  man  who  was  not  a 
simon-pure  Democrat.  Senator  Cockrell  had  settled, 
so  far  as  I  was  concerned,  any  possibility  of  Teller's 
nomination,  when  I  asked  him  about  the  chances  for 
the  Colorado  Senator. 

"Young  man,"  replied  the  Missouri  veteran,  in  the 
vigorous  manner  so  characteristic  of  him,  "when  we 
win  a  Democratic  victory  we  want  a  Democrat.  I  have 
served  long  in  the  Senate  with  Mr.  Teller  and  I  respect 
him,  but  the  next  Democratic  President  will  be  a 
Democrat  and  fill  the  offices  with  Democrats." 

Everybody  was  at  sea  as  to  the  candidate. 

It  has  been  said  that  Bryan  had  no  idea  of  securing 
the  nomination  when  he  went  to  the  convention  at  the 


1 84        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

head  of  a  contesting  delegation.  But  he  was  a  candi 
date  all  the  time. 

Soon  after  the  Republican  convention  adjourned 
Bryan  and  Champ  Clark  met  on  a  train  in  Illinois,  and 
under  a  deep  pledge  of  secrecy,  Bryan  told  Clark  that 
he  (Bryan)  was  going  to  be  nominated  at  Chicago ;  that 
he  was  the  only  man  that  could  be  nominated.  He 
explained  that  Bland  was  impossible;  that  others  had 
no  strength;  and  that  after  a  few  ballots  the  delegates 
would  unite  upon  him  as  the  most  available  man. 

Clark  thought  Bryan  was  serious,  but  misguided. 
He  was  a  great  admirer  of  the  young  Nebraska  en 
thusiast  and  wished  him  well  as  far  as  he  could  con 
sistently  as  a  loyal  Missouri  supporter  of  Silver  Dick 
Bland. 

One  other  man  also  heard  from  Bryan.  Charles  A. 
Towne  of  Minnesota  met  Bryan  soon  after  the  Repub 
lican  convention  adjourned  and  was  asked  what  the 
Republican  bolters  were  going  to  do. 

"We  are  going  to  Chicago  to  nominate  Senator 
Teller,"  replied  Towne;  "you  had  better  come  and 
help  us." 

"I  can't  do  it,"  replied  Bryan;  "I  am  going  to  be 
nominated  at  Chicago  myself." 

Benjamin  R.  Tillman  was  a  prominent  figure  in  the 
convention  of  1896.  He  was  then  in  his  prime  without 
the  softening  influences  of  years  in  the  Senate  which  so 
completely  changed  his  views.  He  was  the  most  in 
tense  of  all  men  who  fought  against  the  conditions  of  the 
time.  He  hated  Cleveland  only  as  a  man  of  his  temper- 


The  Man  from  Nebraska          185 

ament  could  hate  another  man.  He  distrusted  every 
thing  in  the  North,  every  man  of  wealth,  every  man  who 
had  not  been  a  self -proclaimed  guardian  of  the  rights  of 
the  people.  One  of  his  most  intimate  friends  at  the 
convention  was  Governor  Altgeld  of  Illinois. 

Power  and  dominion  were  leading  characteristics  of 
Tillman  at  Chicago.  Even  in  the  smaller  things  he 
took  everything  in  sight.  It  is  usual  to  pass  around  the 
various  positions,  some  half  dozen  assignments  to 
different  members  of  a  state  delegation.  In  the  South 
Carolina  delegation  Tillman  took  the  chairmanship, 
was  member  of  the  national  committee  and  member  of 
the  committee  on  resolutions,  the  three  best  places. 

Senator  Jones  of  Arkansas  was  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee  on  resolutions  and  had  charge  of  the  time  on 
the  silver  side.  He  tried  to  parcel  out  the  time  among 
the  prominent  men  who  wanted  to  speak  on  the  ques 
tion  and  among  others  sought  Senator  Tillman.  I  hap 
pened  to  be  talking  with  Colonel  Steele  of  the  South 
Dakota  delegation,  which  was  immediately  behind 
South  Carolina,  when  Jones  approached  Tillman. 

"I  have  arranged  to  give  you  forty  minutes,  Sena 
tor,"  said  Jones. 

"I'll  have  an  hour  or  nothing,"  curtly  replied 
Tillman. 

"But  the  crowd  will  get  tired  listening  to  one  man 
for  an  hour,"  argued  Jones. 

"No  crowd  ever  gets  tired  when  I'm  talking," 
responded  Tillman. 

And  Jones  had  to  give  Tillman  his  ho'ur,  cutting  him- 


1 86        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

self  out  entirely,  although  he  had  pulled  the  laboring 
oar  during  the  entire  silver  fight. 

Bryan  showed  his  dominance  when  the  committee 
on  credentials  decided  to  admit  his  delegation.  He 
had  been  named  by  the  contesting  delegation  as  a 
member  of  the  committee  on  resolutions,  but  was  not 
entitled  to  sit  in  that  committee  until  the  convention 
had  passed  upon  the  dispute  and  seated  him.  But  as 
soon  as  the  committee  on  credentials  had  decided  in 
his  favor  Bryan  appeared  at  the  room  of  the  resolutions 
committee.  He  was  wearing  the  black  alpaca  coat 
which  became  historical  during  the  following  campaign. 
He  insisted  upon  admittance  and  when  inside  assumed 
the  right  to  represent  Nebraska  on  the  committee. 
He  helped  to  make  the  platform,  something  he  has  done 
in  every  subsequent  convention,  save  in  1916  and 
1920. 

Nearly  everything  else  in  connection  with  the  con 
vention  has  been  forgotten  except  the  "cross  of  gold" 
speech  by  the  wonderful  orator  from  the  Platte.  It  is 
recorded  that  Hill  of  New  York,  Vilas  of  Wisconsin,  and 
perhaps  others,  argued  against  the  platform;  that  fiery 
Ben  Tillman  made  one  of  his  "rip-snorting"  speeches, 
but  when  Bryan  had  concluded  he  had  won  a  place  for 
himself  and  put  all  the  others  in  the  shade.  Bryan  did 
not  entirely  sweep  the  convention  off  its  feet,  for  it  was 
not  until  the  fifth  ballot  that  the  delegates  broke  and 
nominated  him.  These  are  the  concluding  words  of 
that  celebrated  speech: 

"You  shall  not  press  down  upon  the  brow  of  labor 


The  Man  from  Nebraska          187 

this  crown  of  thorns.  You  shall  not  crucify  mankind 
on  a  cross  of  gold!" 

Although  a  delegate,  Bryan  was  not  in  the  conven 
tion  when  he  was  nominated.  He  knew  he  was  going 
to  be  named  and  remained  away.  When  I  was  assured 
of  the  outcome,  I  left  the  convention  hall  and  went  to 
the  little  Clifton  Hotel  in  Monroe  Street  where  Bryan 
was  staying.  He  showed  no  surprise  when  the  report 
of  his  nomination  was  received,  but  was  greatly  elated. 

In  a  very  short  time  that  hotel  was  packed  to  suffo 
cation  with  a  frenzied,  howling  mob,  extending  con 
gratulations  and  struggling  to  shake  the  hand  of  the 
new  leader.  Bryan  stood  midway  on  the  stair  and 
reached  as  many  as  he  could.  Some  proffered  senti 
mental  gifts  which  he  accepted. 

"Here  is  a  bit  of  wood  from  the  old  Breckinridge 
home  in  'old  Kaintuck,'"  said  Jack  Chinn,  he  of  the 
steady  nerve  and  fatal  knife,  handing  to  Bryan  a  walk 
ing  stick.  "It  may  bring  you  good  luck  and  has  a 
sentimental  significance." 

"My  friends,  I  feel  this  is  going  to  be  a  campaign  of 
sentiment,"  responded  Bryan. 

A  short  time  afterwards  the  members  of  the  Demo 
cratic  national  committee  realized  this  fact.  They 
met  to  organize  and  lay  out  plans  for  the  campaign. 
Bryan  attended  the  meeting  and  with  him  was  Mrs. 
Bryan.  This  occasioned  some  surprise,  but  after  a  few 
greetings  and  informal  talk  it  was  suggested  to  Bryan 
that,  as  they  were  about  to  get  down  to  business,  it 
would  probably  be  well  to  notify  Mrs.  Bryan. 


1 88        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Much  to  the  embarrassment  of  most  of  the  members, 
who  were  old  line  Democrats  and  not  touched  with 
woman  suffrage  fever,  Mr.  Bryan  told  them  that  Mrs. 
Bryan  was  to  remain  and  that  there  were  no  secrets  of 
the  campaign  that  she  could  not  know. 

"I  managed  two  campaigns  for  him,"  Senator  Jones 
afterwards  told  me,  "and  it  was  a  very  difficult  task. 
Bryan  was  a  law  unto  himself." 

I  have  attended  every  national  convention  since 
1888,  but  never  saw  the  equal  of  the  Populist  conven 
tion  of  1896.  That  was  a  convention  beyond  anything 
of  the  kind  ever  held,  and  yet  it  was  manipulated  by 
practical  politicians.  The  delegates  were  earnest, 
sincere,  and  had  they  been  able  to  control  the  conven 
tion  they  might  have  written  a  different  page  in  the 
political  history  of  the  United  States.  If  the  so-called 
"middle-of-the-road"  element  could  have  had  its  way 
the  Populist  party  would  not  have  tied  itself  to  the 
tail  of  the  Democratic  kite,  and  thus  brought  about  its 
own  destruction.  It  was  a  convention  made  up  of  men 
and  women,  of  hundreds  of  people  dissatisfied  with 
existing  conditions,  groping  for  something,  they  hardly 
knew  what,  which  would  restore  power  to  the  people. 
Everybody  was  allowed  to  talk;  it  was  a  convention 
of  free  speech.  One  of  the  most  notable  speeches  was 
made  by  Mary  Elizabeth  (not  Ellen)  Lease  of  Kansas. 
As  she  became  excited  with  her  efforts  the  veins  stood 
out  on  her  neck  until  I  thought  they  would  burst. 

It  was  while  Mary  Elizabeth  was  speaking  that  an 
amusing  incident  occurred.  In  his  efforts  to  keep 


The  Man  from  Nebraska 

order  the  sergeant-at-arms  met  with  a  mishap.  His 
"galluses"  broke  and  his  "pants"  slipped  and  slipped. 
He  struggled  with  those  pants,  but  he  did  not  have 
hands  enough  to  control  the  situation.  He  needed 
his  hands  to  wave  the  convention  to  order,  to  point  to 
his  assistants  where  they  should  go,  and  to  bang  on  the 
desk  with  the  gavel.  He  was  the  most  frantic  of  all 
that  frenzied  mob  which  was  cheering  Mrs.  Lease  and 
filling  the  old  convention  hall  with  noise .  And  the  worst 
of  it  all  was  that  the  official  had  no  sense  of  humor.  He 
wanted  to  clear  the  press  seats  because  we  laughed  at  him. 

It  not  infrequently  happened  that  while  some  one 
would  be  speaking  from  the  platform  a  man  would  be 
standing  on  a  chair  addressing  a  delegation  of  his  state 
or  surrounding  delegations.  Texas  was  the  most  fre 
quent  offender  in  this  particular,  and  on  one  occasion 
an  assistant  sergeant-at-arms  was  sent  down  to  tell  the 
delegates  that  they  must  keep  order. 

He  was  collared  by  a  six-foot-six  Texan,  who  stood  at 
a  little  gate  separating  the  Texas  delegation  from  the 
remainder  of  the  convention. 

"See  that  line,"  said  the  big  fellow,  indicating  the 
rail.  "That's  the  Texas  border.  If  ye  come  inside 
that  line  I'll  plug  ye." 

After  that  the  Texans  were  unmolested. 

There  was  sense  and  buffoonery,  play-acting  with 
Uncle  Sam  in  costume  and  Miss  Columbia  arrayed  in 
the  American  flag;  there  were  songs,  shouts,  cheers, 
tempestuous  times,  but  throughout  it  all  the  great  mass 
was  being  steered  towards  a  Bryan  endorsement. 


i9°        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

The  "middle-of-the-road"  contingent  was  largely 
from  the  southern  states.  Their  battle  cry  was  to 
"keep  in  the  middle  of  the  road."  They  did  not  want 
to  unite  and  fuse  with  the  Democratic  party.  They 
had  left  that  party  because  they  were  dissatisfied  with 
it.  There  was  no  Republican  party  in  the  South  and 
they  were  rapidly  capturing  the  Democratic  party  in 
the  South  because  all  the  discontented  elements  were 
flocking  to  them. 

The  northern  Populists  were  willing  and  eager  to 
fuse  with  the  Democrats.  They  were  from  Republican 
states  and  had  left  the  Republican  party  because 
of  general  dissatisfaction  with  conditions,  while  the 
leaders  were  dissatisfied  because  they  had  not  been 
given  the  offices  they  demanded.  The  only  way  they 
could  get  even  a  part  of  what  they  considered  their 
share  was  by  fusion  with  the  Democrats. 

The  "middle-of-the-roaders"  obtained  one  con 
cession.  They  forced  a  reversal  of  the  usual  procedure 
and  secured  the  nomination  of  one  of  their  own  men  for 
Vice  President.  They  feared  that  they  would  be  tricked 
by  the  politicians  and  that  after  Bryan  was  nominated 
the  convention  would  be  adjourned.  So  they  named 
Tom  Watson  of  Georgia,  the  red-headed  leader  of  the 
Populists  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  thus  secur 
ing  the  peculiar  double-tailed  ticket,  which  contributed 
a  share  to  the  peculiar  campaign  which  followed. 

The  politicians  who  manipulated  that  convention 
were  Senator  Jones  of  Arkansas  and  Governor  Stone 
of  Missouri,  Democrats;  Tom  Patterson  of  Colorado, 


The  Man  from  Nebraska 

then  a  Populist,  a  sometime  Democrat,  and  always  an 
independent;  Senator  Pettigrew  of  South  Dakota,  a 
bolter  from  the  Republican  party  in  the  very  same  hall 
a  few  weeks  before,  then  a  silver  Republican,  drifting 
towards  the  Democratic  party  through  Populism ;  Sena 
tor  Kyle  of  South  Dakota,  an  avowed  Populist ;  Senators 
Jones  and  Stewart  of  Nevada,  former  Republicans,  then 
silver  Republicans,  Populists  for  the  time,  but  later  in 
the  Republican  party. 

The  greatest  power  of  all  was  Senator  William  V. 
Allen,  Populist,  of  Nebraska.  Senator  Marion  Butler, 
Populist,  of  North  Carolina  had  been  the  temporary 
chairman.  Given  his  way,  he  would  have  had  a  straight 
Populist  ticket,  but  he  was  persuaded  that  national 
success  would  follow  by  uniting  on  Bryan.  It  was 
Allen  who  saved  the  situation  for  Bryan,  and  he  spoiled 
one  great  sensation  which  at  one  time  promised  to  be 
the  biggest  thing  of  all. 

Before  Watson  was  nominated  Patterson  showed  me 
a  telegram  from  Bryan  saying  that  he  could  not  accept 
a  nomination  from  the  convention  unless  Sewall,  his 
Democratic  running  partner,  was  named  as  Vice  Presi 
dent.  Allen  sent  for  Patterson  and  told  him  to  keep 
his  telegram  in  his  pocket ;  that  a  time  had  arrived  when 
Bryan  could  not  interfere  with  the  Populist  convention. 

Jones  and  Stone  had  telegraphic  communication 
with  Bryan.  The  messages  were  written  on  what  is 
called  newspaper  copy  paper,  large  white  sheets  of 
paper.  On  one  of  them  was  the  Bryan  statement  that 
he  would  not  accept  a  nomination  by  the  Populists 


i92         From  Harrison  to  Harding 

unless  the  other  man  on  the  Democratic  ticket  was  also 
named.  Jones  went  to  Allen  with  this  message.  I  was 
near  the  desk  and  heard  the  colloquy. 

"What  is  this?"  asked  Allen. 

Jones  told  him. 

"It  is  nothing,"  said  Allen.  "It  is  unsigned  and 
addressed  to  no  one.  Take  it  away  from  here." 

Jones  persisted. 

"What  are  you  Democrats  doing  here,  anyway?" 
asked  Allen,  with  considerable  force.  "This  is  a  Popu 
list  convention.  You  can't  run  it  or  have  any  part  in 
it." 

After  Jones  had  left  I  asked  Allen  if  it  was  not  really 
a  dispatch  from  Bryan. 

"It  was  a  paper  with  what  purported  to  be  a  mes 
sage  from  Bryan, ' '  he  said.  ' '  It  looked  like  any  number 
of  newspaper  dispatches  that  I  see  down  in  the  press 
seats.  Anyway,  it  is  not  going  to  be  read  in  this 
convention." 

And  as  Patterson  followed  Allen's  advice  and  kept 
his  authentic  dispatch  in  his  pocket  the  great  sensation 
did  not  develop.  Watson  was  nominated  and  then 
Bryan  was  named.  The  Populist  party  there  com 
mitted  hari-kari. 

Of  the  four  national  conventions  held  in  1896  the 
Gold  Democratic  convention  at  Indianapolis  was  the 
last  and  tamest.  The  men  composing  it  had  but  a 
single  purpose,  and  that  was  to  name  a  ticket  which 
would  allow  a  certain  class  of  men  to  vote  against 
Bryan. 


The  Man  from  Nebraska          193 

They  were  earnest  men,  but  they  simply  represented 
a  protest  against  what  had  taken  place  at  Chicago. 
In  namiri'g  such  ancient  worthies  as  Palmer  and 
Buckner  they  notified  the  country  that  they  expected 
no  actual  results. 

It  was  Bryan's  contention  that  supporters  of  Palmer 
and  Buckner  were  not  real  Democrats.  None  could 
ever  purge  himself  sufficiently  to  secure  a  Democratic 
nomination  for  either  President  or  Vice  President,  not 
even  those  who  came  back  in  1900  and  supported 
Bryan. 

VOL.  I—I3 


CHAPTER  XIX 

A  BUSINESS  CAMPAIGN 

Unlimited  Funds  Placed  at  the  Disposal  of  the  Republicans — Hanna 
Was  a  Liberal  Spender  and  Lavish  with  Money — Special  Trains, 
Spell-Binders,  Campaign  Clubs,  Features  of  the  Canvass—Methods 
of  Getting  Out  the  Vote — Bryan  and  His  Whirlwind  Tours  of  the 
Country — Cleveland  Administration  Favors  McKinley — Personal 
Characteristics  of  the  Clevelands. 

T  TN LIMITED  money  was  poured  into  the  campaign 
^  which  Mark  Hanna  managed  in  1896.  There 
was  no  difficulty  in  raising  all  the  money  that  could  be 
spent,  and  more,  vfcree  silver,  the  attack  upon  the 
courts,  and  the  general  anti-corporation  character  of 
the  Democratic  platform,  together  with  the  radical 
utterances  of  Bryan  and  his  supporters,  scared  business 
men  of  the  country  to  such  an  extent  that  they  never 
hesitated  when  Hanna  or  his  collectors  came  knocking 
at  their  doors.j  How  much  money  was  raised  and 
spent?  Who  can  tell?  Whether  it  was  ten  or  fifteen 
millions  does  not  matter.  All  that  was  needed  was 
raised  and  there  was  a  comfortable  surplus  left  after 
every  dollar  that  was  possible  to  spend  had  been  spent. 
Charges  of  bribery  and  corruption  were  made  by  the 
Democrats,  particularly  in  regard  to  Ohio  and  Indiana 
and  in  a  number  of  other  states  classed  as  doubtful. 
That  was  because  of  the  very  large  vote  cast.  In  Ohio 

194 


A  Business  Campaign  195 

there  was  one  vote  for  every  four  people,  which  is  an 
extraordinary  showing,  one  in  five  being  considered 
more  than  the  average.  Very  large  sums  of  money 
were  spent  to  get  the  voters  to  the  polls.  The  system 
adopted  was  not  bribery,  but  it  gave  the  party  with  the 
money  an  advantage  over  the  party  with  limited  funds. 

It  was  rather  simple.  Every  person  with  a  vehicle  of 
any  kind  was  employed  to  transport  voters  from  their 
homes  to  the  election  booths  and  also  to  take  them 
home.  Voters  who  were  at  work  and  possibly  subject 
to  loss  of  time  while  going  to  the  election  were  paid  for 
their  time,  many  upon  a  very  liberal  basis.  Farmers 
who  had  to  leave  their  fields  were  recompensed  for 
their  loss  of  time  and  for  the  loss  of  time  of  their  hired 
hands ;  they  were  also  paid  to  bring  voters  to  and  from 
the  polls.  Every  voter,  no  matter  in  what  condition 
he  may  have  been,  was  sought  out  and  taken  to  the 
polls  to  cast  his  vote.  Every  county  chairman,  dis 
trict  chairman,  precinct  captain,  together  with  all  their 
lieutenants,  and  all  other  willing  workers,  were  supplied 
with  money  to  get  out  the  votes.  The  same  care  was 
taken  in  regard  to  registration  of  voters.  No  votes 
were  lost  by  reason  of  the  failure  of  men  to  register. 

All  this  vast  army  of  workers  was  paid  liberally.  It 
was  not  bribery,  nor  corruption ;  it  came  under  the 
head  of  "legitimate  campaign  expenses,"  just  as  did 
many  other  campaign  expenditures  that  year. 

All  sorts  of  clubs  and  political  organizations  were 
financed.  Let  any  man  go  to  Hanna  with  a  proposi 
tion  to  arouse  the  interest  of  voters  and  inject  enthusi- 


196        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

asm  into  any  class  of  people  and  the  expenses  of  the 
plan  were  forthcoming.  Nor  was  there  any  difficulty 
in  regard  to  spell-binders.  Any  man  with  a  voice  and 
a  gift  of  oratory  could  find  employment.  Every  town, 
village  and  hamlet  had  its  political  meetings,  with 
bands,  marching  clubs,  advertising,  and  all  other  ac 
cessories  to  make  them  attractive  and  successful.  Some 
very  high-priced  orators  were  employed  during  the 
entire  campaign. 

Mr.  McKinley  did  not  go  on  the  stump,  but  remained 
at  Canton  where  he  received  many  organizations  from 
all  parts  of  the  country.  To  these  visiting  delegations 
he  made  short  speeches  from  the  porch  of  his  residence. 
All  the  grass  around  the  house  was  trampled  down  by 
the  crowds  that  went  to  see  the  candidate.  The  ex 
penses  of  these  political  pilgrims  were  paid  by  the  na 
tional  committee. 

Then  there  was  the  Old  Soldiers'  Touring  Special,  a 
train  of  Pullmans  carrying  a  number  of  officers  and  a 
few  privates  of  the  civil  war,  who  visited  many  states 
and  made  speeches  to  the  old  soldiers  urging  their 
support  of  Comrade  McKinley. 

No  state  that  might  possibly  be  carried  by  the  Re 
publicans  was  overlooked.  Missouri  was  invaded, 
which  recalls  an  incident.  One  of  the  men  induced  to 
go  to  his  old  home  and  speak  for  the  Republicans  was 
former  Senator  John  B.  Henderson,  who  had  repre 
sented  the  state  in  the  United  States  Senate  during  the 
Civil  War.  He  met  a  few  men  he  once  knew,  but  most 
of  those  to  whom  he  spoke  were  strangers,  and  that  in  a 


A  Business  Campaign  197 

land  where  he  at  one  time  knew  every  man.  The  trip 
was  rather  depressing  for  the  old  man. 

"This  is  the  last  time  I  shall  ever  come  among  you," 
said  the  venerable  statesman,  at  one  of  the  towns.  "I 
presume  you  do  not  care,  and  I  am  sure  I  do  not." 

The  quick  way  in  which  Hanna  handled  questions 
was  shown  by  the  manner  in  which  he  disposed  of  a 
proposition  submitted  by  George  D.  Meiklejohn,  a 
former  congressman  from  Nebraska.  Meiklejohn  knew 
of  the  work  which  Father  Stephan  had  done  in  the  cam 
paign  of  1892,  when  the  shrewd  political  churchman 
had  toured  the  country  against  Harrison  on  account  of 
the  treatment  of  the  Catholic  Indian  schools  by  Com 
missioner  Morgan.  Meiklejohn  told  Hanna  about  it. 

"Can  you  get  him?"  asked  Hanna. 

"I  think  so,"  replied  Meiklejohn. 

"Go  and  get  him,  and  don't  haggle,"  directed  Hanna. 

Meiklejohn  convinced  the  old  campaigner  that  it  was 
to  the  interests  near  his  heart  to  support  the  Republi 
can  ticket.  Stephan  went  over  the  same  ground  he 
covered  in  1892,  but  he  was  for  McKinley  on  his  second 
tour. 

Meiklejohn  was  afterwards  appointed  Assistant 
Secretary  of  War  by  McKinley.  Hanna  always  tried 
to  reward  his  useful  friends. 

Mr.  Bryan's  campaign  was  very  spectacular.  It  was 
one  of  constant  travel  and  speech-making.  Early  in 
the  canvass  it  was  learned  that  the  people  wanted  to 
see  and  hear  Bryan  and  he  was  constantly  on  the  go, 
making  speeches  day  and  night.  He  earned  the  repu- 


From  Harrison  to  Harding 

tation  then,  which  he  afterwards  maintained,  of  being 
the  most  marvelous  campaigner  America  has  ever 
known. 

No  doubt  the  tremendous  crowds  which  listened  to 
and  cheered  Bryan  convinced  him  and  those  who 
travelled  with  him  that  he  would  be  elected.  This 
belief  spread  over  a  wide  region  and  was  often  expressed 
in  Republican  headquarters.  The  reports  caused 
Hanna  and  his  lieutenants  to  put  forth  redoubled 
efforts. 

It  all  seemed  so  strange  and  unreal.  The  Demo 
cratic  party  had  been  split  wide  open  on  the  tariff  and 
silver  issues.  Whole  delegations  had  refused  to  vote 
in  the  national  convention  after  the  silver  platform 
was  adopted;  and  yet  before  the  campaign  was  half 
over  it  seemed  that  this  young  man  from  out  the  West 
might  sweep  the  country  and  enter  the  White  House  in 
triumph. 

Bryan  coined  the  phrase  "the  enemy's  country" 
when  he  went  to  speak  in  New  York,  and  ever  after  it 
was  a  real  "enemy's  country"  for  him. 

Those  were  the  days  when  men  who  were  afraid  to 
use  the  word  ' '  gold ' '  spoke  of  ' '  sound  money. ' '  Natu 
rally  the  Democrats  took  umbrage  at  the  term,  because 
as  it  was  used  they  were,  by  implication,  put  in  the 
position  of  being  in  favor  of  "unsound  money."  They 
claimed  that  silver  was  as  "sound"  as  gold. 

The  attitude  of  the  Cleveland  administration  never 
was  in  doubt.  Nominally  the  Administration  was  for 
the  Palmer  and  Buckner  ticket,  actually  it  was  for  the 


A  Business  Campaign  199 

Republican  ticket,  and  the  various  departments  were 
busy  hives  of  workers  for  McKinley.  Men  appointed 
as  Democrats  became  Republicans  and  many  remained 
with  the  party,  holding  office  four  years  under  Cleve 
land  and  sixteen  years  under  succeeding  Republican  ad 
ministrations,  and  only  again  recollecting  that  they  were 
real  Democrats  after  the  election  of  1912. 

Hoke  Smith  was  the  only  Cabinet  member  who  re 
signed.  He  was  for  "sound  money,"  but  he  wanted 
to  keep  his  Democracy  on  straight  and  so  he  went 
back  to  Georgia  and  supported  Bryan. 

David  R.  Francis  of  Missouri  succeeded  Smith  in  the 
Interior  Department  and  forever  after  he  was  on 
Bryan's  blacklist.  No  man  who  did  not  support 
Bryan  in  that  campaign  has  ever  been  forgiven  by  the 
Nebraska  candidate.  As  late  as  1908,  Francis  wanted 
to  be  the  candidate  for  Vice  President  with  Bryan,  but 
he  was  denied,  although  he  had  supported  Bryan  in 
1900  and  they  had  become  personal  friends. 

Was  the  election  of  1896  a  close  contest?  Well, 
it  might  have  been  close.  At  least  it  was  carefully 
figured  out  that  a  change  of  34,000  votes  in  the  states 
of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Kentucky,  if  divided  in  the  right 
proportion,  would  have  given  Bryan  a  majority  of  one 
in  the  electoral  college.  At  all  events,  but  for  the 
wonderful  campaign  that  Hanna  made  there  is  no 
doubt  that  McKinley  would  have  been  defeated. 

After  the  election  very  little  attention  was  paid  to 
the  Cleveland  administration.  The  Democrats  were 
about  to  bid  good-bye  to  Federal  control  for  sixteen 


200        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

years,  but  of  course  they  did  not  know  that  it  would  be 
such  a  long  period.  Cleveland  was  pleased  to  have 
any  man  elected  rather  than  Bryan,  and  he  welcomed 
McKinley  as  his  successor  on  that  account. 

Socially  the  Clevelands  made  a  success  of  the  ad 
ministration.  Mrs.  Cleveland  was  a  most  charming 
White  House  hostess.  Not  only  at  the  public  and 
official  receptions  did  she  win  friends,  but  her  small 
informal  parties  were  a  great  delight  to  her  guests. 
She  was  very  accessible  and  it  was  easy  to  arrange  to 
have  out-of-town  friends  presented  at  the  White  House. 
These  receptions  were  not  at  all  formal,  and  the  visitors 
sat  down  with  the  First  Lady  of  the  Land  quite  the 
same  as  they  would  have  done  in  any  lady's  drawing 
room  while  making  a  call. 

Little  short  of  criminal  were  some  of  the  attacks 
made  upon  the  Clevelands.  The  assertion  that  Mrs. 
Cleveland  was  ill-treated  was  on  a  par  with  another 
that  one  of  the  children  was  defective.  Statements 
regarding  Mr.  Cleveland's  habits  were  greatly  exag 
gerated.  No  doubt  Mr.  Cleveland  did  like  his  whiskey, 
and  it  may  have  been  that  on  some  of  the  fishing  trips 
on  the  light-house  tenders  with  special  cronies  for  com 
panions  he  over-indulged.  But  we  never  heard  of 
Cleveland  being  unable  to  attend  to  business  on  account 
of  drink. 

There  was  a  story  told  about  Cleveland  in  this  re 
gard.  Dan  Lamont  was  with  him  at  a  function  in 
the  West.  It  was  a  cold,  blustering  day  and  a  member 
of  the  committee  thought  that  the  visitors  might  like 


A  Business  Campaign  201 

a  drink  of  something  warming,  and  procured  two 
glasses  of  whiskey.  Cleveland  tossed  off  one  and 
picking  up  the  other,  remarked : 

"Daniel  doesn't  drink." 

And  that  followed  the  first. 

On  one  occasion  Major  John  M.  Carson,  one  of  the 
few  newspaper  men  on  intimate  terms  with  Cleveland, 
called  upon  him  to  urge  the  appointment  of  an  army 
officer  to  be  a  brigadier  general  in  one  of  the  staff 
departments. 

"Major,"  said  the  President,  "they  tell  me  that 
your  man  drinks  too  much." 

"Mr.  President,"  replied  Carson,  "he  takes  a  drink 
just  as  you  and  I  do,  when  he  feels  like  it.  If  he  came 
into  town  to-day  I  would  meet  him  on  the  street  and 
say,  'Let's  go  down  to Shoo's,'  and  I  would  do  the  same 
with  you  if  you  were  a  colonel  in  the  army  .and  not 
President." 

The  man  was  made  a  brigadier  general. 

Many  years  after  when  Cleveland  was  living  at 
Princeton  a  number  of  newspaper  men  happened  to  be 
in  the  old  college  town  and  went  to  call  on  the  ex-Presi 
dent.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  two  members  of 
the  party,  both  pronounced  Democrats  who  had  sup 
ported  Cleveland  in  three  campaigns,  felt  so  bitter 
towards  him  that  they  would  not  call  on  him. 

Mr.  Cleveland  received  us  in  a  very  informal  man 
ner.  He  seemed  rather  glad  we  had  called  and  talked 
about  his  old  friends  in  Washington  and  chatted  about 
past  incidents.  One  member  of  the  party  knew  several 


202        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

intimate  friends  of  Cleveland  in  Buffalo,  and  reminis 
cences  of  his  days  in  that  city  occupied  some  time. 

Just  as  we  made  a  move  to  go,  Cleveland  said : 

"Hold  on  a  minute.  On  such  an  occasion  we  must 
do  something  more  than  exchange  a  little  gossip." 

He  summoned  a  servant  and  directed  that  a  tray, 
glasses  and  a  pitcher  of  water  be  taken  to  the  billiard 
room.  Then  he  led  the  way  to  that  room  and,  going  to 
a  side-board,  he  took  out  a  bottle  and  held  it  up  and 
looked  at  the  label. 

"This  seems  all  right,"  he  remarked,  and  reaching 
into  a  pocket  for  a  corkscrew,  opened  the  bottle  and 
began  pouring  the  liquor  into  the  glasses,  passing  them 
out  to  us. 

"Here,  Major,"  he  said,  as  he  came  to  Carson,  "you 
always  liked  a  man's  size  drink,"  and  he  poured  out  a 
double  quantity. 

He  went  to  another  place  and  brought  out  an  elabo 
rate  box  of  various  brands  of  cigars,  a  dozen  different 
varieties  and  sizes. 

"A  friend  from  the  South  had  this  fixed  up  for  me," 
he  said,  "but  it's  a  little  out  of  place.  Perhaps  you 
can  find  a  cigar  you  will  like,"  and  he  passed  them 
around. 

After  further  talk  we  took  our  leave.  Those  who 
had  not  been  personally  acquainted  with  Mr.  Cleve 
land  were  rather  surprised  at  the  plain,  homelike  man 
ner  of  our  reception,  but  he  had  not  changed.  He  was 
just  like  that  in  the  White  House  to  those  whom  he 
knew. 


A  Business  Campaign  203 

There  were  many  people  who  did  not  like  Mr.  Cleve 
land,  but  he  had  his  friends  and  those  who  knew  him 
best  did  not  regard  him  as  either  a  coarse  or  unap 
proachable  man.  I  remember  an  instance  which 
showed  a  side  of  his  character  little  known.  I  took  my 
little  son  to  the  White  House  one  morning.  We  entered 
a  room  in  which  several  Senators  and  Representatives 
were  seeking  interviews  with  the  President.  As  we 
waited  the  boy  coughed  at  times.  Presently  we  were 
invited  into  the  President's  room,  and  as  we  entered, 
Mr.  Cleveland  said : 

"That  boy's  got  the  whooping  cough;  don't  you 
know  that?  You  ought  not  to  have  him  out  in  this 
kind  of  weather." 

I  replied  that  I  did  not  know  it. 

"Well,  he  has;  I  know  it,"  said  the  President.  "I 
know  all  about  children  and  the  whooping  cough." 

He  wrote  his  name  on  a  card  with  a  picture  of  the 
White  House  on  it  and  handed  it  to  the  boy. 

"Here,  young  man,  that  may  be  of  some  interest  to 
you  when  you  are  as  old  as  your  father." 

Then  he  added : 

' '  Now,  take  that  boy  home  and  have  that  whooping 
cough  looked  after.  It  won't  do  to  trifle  with  such 
things." 

And  sure  enough,  the  boy  did  have  the  whooping 
cough. 


CHAPTER  XX 

A  NEW  ADMINISTRATION 

President  McKinley  Selects  a  Cabinet;  Political  Expediency  and  Per 
sonal  Considerations  Govern — Senators  Were  Going  to  Give  Mark 
Hanna  the  Cold  Shoulder,  but  His  Personality  and  Power  Over 
came  Opposition — Devotion  of  the  President  to  His  Wife — When 
Cortelyou  First  Appeared — Retirement  of  Prominent  Men  from 
Congress. 

pvURING  the  winter  of  1897  President-elect  McKinley 
selected  the  members  of  his  Cabinet.  It  was  a 
Cabinet  constructed  on  a  plan  of  political  expediency 
and  personal  choice,  and  was  not  a  strong  body.  The 
first  surprise  was  when  John  Sherman  was  taken  out  of 
the  Senate  to  be  made  Secretary  of  State.  Sherman 
was  then  too  old  for  such  a  place.  His  mind  was  giving 
way  and  he  often  caused  much  confusion  in  his  dealings 
with  diplomats.  It  was  found  necessary  to  turn  the 
business  over  to  William  R.  Day,  the  First  Assistant 
Secretary  and  a  personal  friend  of  the  President.  The 
confusion  in  the  State  Department  was  illustrated  by 
a  diplomat,  who  confided  his  troubles  to  a  newspaper 
friend : 

' '  I  am  at  a  loss  about  conducting  business  with  your 
government,"  he  said.  "The  head  of  the  Department 
knows  nothing;  the  First  Assistant  says  nothing;  the 
Second  Assistant  hears  nothing." 

204 


A  New  Administration  205 

Mr.  Day  was  very  reticent,  while  Second  Assistant 
Adee  was  very  deaf,  which  explains  the  diplomat's  re 
marks. 

Sherman  was  lifted  out  of  the  Senate  in  order  to  make 
a  place  for  Mark  Hanna,  who  wanted  a  seat  in  the 
Senate. 

When  it  was  known  that  Hanna  was  to  come  to  the 
Senate  there  was  much  discussion  among  the  Senators. 
They  were  not  well  pleased  because  Hanna  had  nomi 
nated  a  man  they  did  not  want  for  President ;  and  they 
did  not  intend  to  allow  him  to  assume  authority  in 
the  Senate  such  as  he  had  exhibited  during  the  short 
time  he  had  been  in  politics. 

"He  will  be  made  to  know  his  place  here,"  remarked 
Senator  Davis  of  Minnesota.  "He  cannot  boss  the 
Senate  as  he  has  bossed  everybody  outside.  We  have 
a  method  of  our  own  in  giving  a  man  the  cold  shoulder. 
We  know  the  art  of  sitting  down  on  a  man." 

But  how  different  it  all  turned  out.  In  the  first  place 
Hanna  was  a  jovial,  fun-loving  man,  with  a  keen  sense 
of  humor  and  good-fellowship  standing  out  all  over  him. 
Besides,  the  Republican  Senators  found  that  it  was 
not  good  policy  to  "give  the  cold  shoulder"  to  the  man 
who  was  so  close  to  their  President,  the  man  behind  the 
throne,  the  man  with  the  power.  In  a  little  while 
Hanna  was  one  of  the  half  dozen  Senators  of  the  "inner 
circle,"  that  compact  organization  which  at  that  time 
managed  the  Senate.  He  was  a  welcome  member  of 
the  "Big  Six,"  which  at  the  time  Hanna  was  admitted 
consisted  of  Aldrich,  Allison,  Hale,  Platt  of  Connecti- 


206        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

cut,  Spooner  and  Hanna.  Lodge  had  been  one  of  the 
"six,"  but  was  pushed  out  to  make  room  for  Hanna,  or 
at  least  that  was  attempted,  but  Lodge  was  not  easily 
thrust  aside  and  often  declared  himself  "in"  on  con 
ferences  which  were  held  by  the  others,  much  to  their 
annoyance. 

Lyman  J.  Gage,  a  banker  in  Chicago,  was  chosen  as 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  The  selection  was  supposed 
to  be  on  account  of  services  which  Gage  had  been  able 
to  render  in  connection  with  raising  money  for  the 
campaign  in  the  western  metropolis. 

General  Russell  A.  Alger  was  named  for  Secretary  of 
War.  The  selection  was  a  tribute  to  the  men  of  the 
Civil  War,  Alger  at  that  time  being  one  of  the  principal 
surviving  Union  officers  active  in  politics.  He  was  a 
politician  of  prominence,  having  several  times  been 
Michigan's  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  But  it  was 
a  strange  proceeding  to  bring  Sherman  and  Alger  into 
the  same  Cabinet,  and  what  made  the  situation  all  the 
more  embarrassing  was  the  publication  of  Sherman's 
memoirs  at  that  time  in  which  he  accused  Alger  agents 
of  buying  his  Delegates  at  the  convention  in  1888,  and 
thus  defeating  him  for  the  nomination. 

John  D.  Long  for  Secretary  of  the  Navy  and  Joseph 
McKenna  for  Attorney  General,  were  personal  appoint 
ments  by  McKinley.  He  had  served  in  the  House  with 
them  and  he  was  moving  McKenna  forward  to  a  place 
on  the  Supreme  bench. 

James  A.  Gary  for  Postmaster  General  and  Cornelius 
N.  Bliss  for  Secretary  of  the  Interior  were  political 


A  New  Administration  207 

appointments.  Bliss  had  been  very  useful  during  the 
campaign  as  treasurer  of  the  national  committee. 

One  selection  was  particularly  meritorious.  That 
was  James  Wilson  for  Secretary  of  Agriculture.  He 
remained  in  the  office  sixteen  years,  serving  under 
both  of  McKinley's  successors,  breaking  the  record  for 
long  service  in  the  Cabinet. 

William  McKinley  was  beyond  doubt  the  most  popular 
man  in  the  country  when  he  was  inaugurated,  and  he 
was  fortunate  in  retaining  that  popularity  to  the  day  of 
his  death.  While  there  were  partisan  criticisms  of  his 
Administration  and  one  of  his  Cabinet  was  forced  to 
resign,  for  McKinley  himself  there  were  only  kind  words. 
His  desire  to  accommodate  people,  or  at  least  not  to 
offend  them,  amounting  in  some  cases  to  weakness, 
was  a  characteristic  which  was  almost  a  fault. 

McKinley  was  well  fitted  by  experience  for  President 
when  he  went  to  the  White  House.  Fourteen  years  in 
the  House  of  Representatives  and  four  years  as  Gov 
ernor  of  Ohio  had  given  him  ample  opportunities  to 
learn  the  needs  of  the  country  and  the  best  methods  of 
administration . 

Physically  he  was  a  fine  specimen.  Of  medium 
height,  stockily  built,  his  clothes  fitting  him  well,  he 
made  a  fine  figure  of  a  man.  His  face  was  dark  and 
clean-shaven,  and  eyebrows  pronounced,  almost 
"beetling,"  gave  him  the  appearance  of  sternness  which 
he  did  not  possess,  for  McKinley  was  a  gentle,  kindly 
disposed  man. 

McKinley's  constant  and  almost  heroic  devotion  to 


2o8        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

his  invalid  wife  made  him  a  popular  idol.  Those  who 
saw  Mrs.  McKinley  during  the  inauguration  ceremonies 
thought  she  was  a  stricken  woman.  Her  chalky  white 
face  and  general  appearance  of  weakness  showed  so 
unmistakably  her  serious  physical  condition  that  no 
one  would  have  been  surprised  if  she  had  collapsed  at 
any  moment.  Throughout  his  Administration  she 
was  the  object  of  the  President's  solicitous  care,  and 
even  at  times  of  great  national  stress  his  consideration 
for  Mrs.  McKinley  was  never  abated.  Subject  to  at 
tacks  in  which  she  frequently  lapsed  into  unconscious 
ness,  she  always  occupied  a  seat  beside  the  President  at 
official  dinners  in  order  that  she  might  receive  immedi 
ate  attention  from  him  in  case  one  came  on.  At  the 
White  House  receptions  she  occupied  a  chair  beside  the 
President,  who  shook  hands  with  the  guests,  the  First 
Lady  of  the  Land  looking  rather  blankly  at  the  pro 
cession  passing  in  front  of  her. 

During  all  the  trying  period  of  the  Spanish  war  and 
throughout  his  public  career  McKinley  continued  his 
devoted  attendance  upon  his  wife  and  no  one  ever 
heard  him  utter  one  word  of  complaint.  Nor  did  he 
make  a  martyr  of  himself  in  any  way  whatever.  He 
simply  accepted  the  care  of  an  invalid  wife  as  part  of 
the  daily  duties  of  a  husband,  and  neither  by  word  nor 
gesture  did  he  betray  that  it  was  a  great  burden. 

McKinley  appointed  J.  Addison  Porter  of  Connecti 
cut  as  his  private  secretary.  It  was  not  a  happy  selec 
tion.  Mr.  Porter  knew  very  little  about  Washington 
and  less  about  public  men.  He  was  of  very  little  help 


A  New  Administration  209 

to  the  President  and  for  the  most  part  he  busied  himself 
with  the  social  side  of  the  White  House  life  and  other 
matters  of  little  importance. 

The  real  work  of  private  secretary  fell  upon  George 
B.  Cortelyou,  whose  position  was  that  of  confidential 
stenographer  to  the  President.  He  had  held  that  posi 
tion  under  Cleveland.  Cortelyou's  entrance  into  public 
and  political  life  was  an  illustration  of  the  conjunction  of 
opportunity  and  the  man.  Robert  L.  O'Brien  was  the 
confidential  stenographer  for  Mr.  Cleveland  at  the  White 
House,  but  resigned  to  become  a  Washington  corre 
spondent,  believing  there  was  a  larger  field  of  usefulness 
for  him  in  newspaper  work.  The  evening  of  his  resigna 
tion  Fourth  Assistant  Postmaster  General  Maxwell  was 
at  the  White  House.  He  was  known  as  "  Headsman 
Bob,"  having  charge  of  the  fourth  class  postoffice 
appointments  and  having  been  very  diligent  in  cutting 
off  Republican  heads  for  the  benefit  of  Democrats. 
Maxwell  and  Cleveland  had  been  cronies  at  Buffalo  and 
they  often  had  long  chats  together  in  the  evening  at  the 
White  House.  Cleveland  told  Maxwell  of  his  trouble 
in  losing  a  good  stenographer  and  his  dislike  to  breaking 
in  a  new  man. 

"I've  got  the  very  man  you  want,"  said  Maxwell. 
11 1  don't  want  to  lose  him,  but  I'll  do  anything  for  you. 
He  is  a  fourteen-hundred-dollar  clerk  in  the  Postoffice 
Department  and  is  my  private  secretary.  He  is  a  mighty 
good  man,  efficient,  close-mouthed,  always  on  hand 
when  you  want  him,  never  watches  the  clock  or  com 
plains  about  long  hours.  He  is  a  complete  master  of 

VOL.  I — 14 


210        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

detail  and  never  forgets  anything.  His  name  is 
Cortelyou." 

"Send  him  up,'*  replied  Mr.  Cleveland. 

And  that  is  the  way  George  B.  Cortelyou  started  on 
his  marvelous  career. 

Private  Secretary  Thurber  never  paid  any  attention 
to  the  real  work  of  his  office  and  Mr.  Cleveland  relied 
upon  his  confidential  stenographer.  After  Mr.  Porter 
had  been  installed  President  McKinley  found  it  wise 
to  do  the  same,  and  it  was  Cortelyou  who  knew  all  the 
details  of  White  House  business,  knew  whom  the 
-President  ought  to  see,  knew  when  he  ought  to  push  a 
man  out  of  the  President's  room  by  ushering  in  another 
visitor  or  by  calling  the  attention  of  the  President  to  an 
important  engagement.  In  fact  he  was  all  that  Bob 
Maxwell  had  said  he  was.  And  when  Porter  resigned 
as  private  secretary  Cortelyou  was  promoted,  and  con 
tinued  to  hold  the  position  until  President  Roosevelt 
made  him  the  first  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor. 

In  after  years  when  Cortelyou  was  such  a  prominent 
figure,  particularly  after  he  had  held  three  Cabinet  posi 
tions  and  was  being  talked  of  as  a  presidential  possi 
bility,  Hugh  C.  Wallace  of  Tacoma,  Wash.,  member  of 
the  Democratic  National  Committee  during  Cleveland's 
administration,  and  later  Ambassador  to  France,  made 
this  observation : 

"Why,  think  of  the  way  Cortelyou  has  gone  up.  It 
was  not  so  very  many  years  ago  that  I  was  dictating 
to  him  my  recommendations  for  the  appointment  of 
fourth  class  postmasters  in  the  state  of  Washington." 


A  New  Administration  2 1 1 

The  close  of  the  Fifty-fourth  Congress  on  March  4, 
1897,  saw  the  retirement  of  quite  a  number  of  men 
who  had  become  prominent  in  public  life.  The  Sena 
tors  who  were  not  returned  were  Pugh  of  Alabama,  Call 
of  Florida,  Gordon  of  Georgia,  Dubois  of  Idaho,  Palmer 
of  Illinois,  Voorhees  of  Indiana,  Peffer  of  Kansas, 
Blackburn  of  Kentucky,  Blanchard  of  Louisiana, 
Gibson  of  Maryland,  Hill  of  New  York,  Brice  of  Ohio, 
Cameron  of  Pennsylvania,  Squire  of  Washington  and 
Vilas  of  Wisconsin. 

Pugh,  Call,  Gordon  and  Blanchard  were  succeeded 
by  Democrats;  Palmer,  Voorhees,  Blackburn,  Gib 
son,  Hill,  Brice  and  Vilas  by  Republicans;  Dubois  and 
Squire  by  men  who  were  elected  by  a  fusion  of  Demo 
crats  and  Populists,  but  who  acted  with  the  Democrats ; 
and  Peffer  by  a  Democrat.  Cameron  was  succeeded 
by  a  Republican.  Cameron  voluntarily  retired,  and 
lived  to  see  his  successor  elected  four  successive 
times. 

Pugh  had  been  in  the  Senate  eighteen  years  and  seemed 
to  be  a  fixture,  as  Alabama  has  the  habit  of  keeping  her 
Senators  in  office  as  long  as  they  live.  He  was  some 
what  irascible  with  strangers,  and  abrupt  even  with  his 
constituents.  Among  these  constituents  was  Edmund 
W.  Pettus,  a  man  near  seventy  years  of  age,  who  wanted 
to  be  judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court.  No 
President  would  appoint  a  man  a  judge  who  was  more 
than  sixty  years,  and  generally  they  hesitate  to  select  one 
that  old.  Pugh  wrote  to  Pettus  a  rather  short  letter 
saying  he  was  too  old  for  the  judgeship. 


212        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

1  'Well,"  said  Pettus,  "I  may  be  too  old  for  a  judge, 
but  I'm  not  too  old  for  the  Senate." 

He  at  once  made  a  campaign  and  much  to  the  sur 
prise  of  everybody  defeated  Pugh  for  the  primary 
nomination. 

Pugh  had  a  habit  of  saying  just  what  he  thought. 
One  day  after  he  had  a  controversy  with  Senator  Berry 
of  Arkansas,  and  was  evidently  much  disturbed  by 
the  result,  he  went  into  the  cloak  room,  and  in 
his  hoarse,  rasping  voice,  said  to  Senator  Vest  of 
Missouri : 

"Vest,  there  are  two  kinds  of  a  demagogue,  the 
natural  and  artificial;  but  I'm  damned  if  Berry  isn't 
both." 

Wilkinson  Call  was  the  most  dreary  talker  I  ever 
heard  in  the  Senate.  That  is  a  pretty  broad  state 
ment,  but  I  will  stand  by  it.  No  other  man  could  talk 
so  long  and  tediously  as  Call.  His  voice  was  disagree 
able,  he  had  a  disagreeable  countenance,  he  was  always 
against  something  or  somebody,  generally  some  one  in 
Florida  whom  no  one  in  Washington  knew  or  cared 
about.  And  yet  his  speeches  on  some  of  the  great  sub 
jects  of  the  day  read  well.  His  English  was  good  and 
his  ideas  were  not  bad  when  separated  from  his 
personality. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  matters  connected  with 
Call  came  about  on  account  of  a  story  written  for  the 
Associated  Press  by  Howard  Thompson,  who  happened 
to  be  reporting  the  Senate.  Some  other  Senator  was 
occupying  the  floor  and  was  almost  as  prosy  as  Call,  per- 


A  New  Administration  213 

haps  it  was  Stewart  of  Nevada  talking  on  the  "crime 
of  '73." 

I  might  digress,  right  here,  to  explain  that  last  re 
mark,  as  there  are  so  many  people  of  the  younger 
generation  who  do  not  know  what  it  means.  The 
Nevada  Senator  never  tired  of  talking  about  silver  and 
he  never  talked  about  silver  without  alluding  to  "the 
crime  of  1873."  He  referred  to  the  coinage  act  of  that 
year  which  dropped  the  silver  dollar  out  of  the  currency 
of  the  United  States  as  a  unit  and  made  the  gold  dollar 
the  unit  of  value.  Stewart  always  claimed  that  was  a 
deep,  dark,  dastardly  "crime,"  and  he  always  held  John 
Sherman  responsible  for  it. 

But  to  return  to  Call :  He  became  weary  and  his  feet 
hurt  him  and  finally  he  took  off  his  shoes.  Then  he 
leaned  back  comfortably  and  a  little  later  a  shoeless 
foot  was  elevated  to  his  desk.  He  wore  those  old 
fashioned  knit  blue  woolen  socks  of  early  days.  Howard 
Thompson  saw  the  foot  and  the  socks  and,  liking  Call 
about  as  well  as  anybody  else  did,  he  wrote  one  of  his 
best  stories  of  the  occurrence.  I  do  not  remember 
whether  it  was  sent  out  by  the  Associated  Press  or  not, 
but  it  went  into  the  papers,  was  copied  in  all  the  papers 
in  Florida  opposed  to  Call,  and  that  was  pretty  nearly 
the  entire  list,  and  made  him  a  peck  of  trouble.  Call 
brought  it  up  in  the  Senate  and  was  particularly  fierce 
in  his  denunciation  of  the  slanderous  writers  who  had 
so  maliciously  assailed  him.  He  also  denied  the  sock 
story,  but  no  denial  ever  gets  anywhere  with  a  story 
of  that  kind. 


214        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

The  soldierly  General  Gordon  was  the  last  of  the  prom 
inent  Confederate  generals  in  the  Senate.  There  were 
men  who  held  commissions  as  major  and  brigadier 
generals,  but  Gordon  was  a  lieutenant  general  and  had 
important  commands  in  the  southern  army. 

John  M.  Palmer  was  an  old  man  when  he  came  to 
the  Senate,  with  a  military  record  behind  him,  for  he 
was  a  Union  general.  He  was  a  kindly  old  man,  liked 
by  everybody  and  full  of  stories  about  Illinois  of  the 
early  days. 

Dan  Voorhees,  "the  tall  Sycamore  of  the  Wabash," 
as  he  was  known  in  the  days  when  he  was  a  regular  fire- 
eater,  retired  after  years  of  service  in  both  House  and 
Senate.  During  the  Civil  War  he  was  in  the  House, 
where  he  denounced  the  methods  employed  to  preserve 
the  Union,  and  was  styled  a  "Copperhead."  Voorhees, 
although  an  opponent  of  the  war,  was  ever  a  friend  of 
the  Union  soldier  in  after  years.  He  was  always  an 
earnest  advocate  of  all  pensions. 

It  was  not  the  last  appearance  of  Joe  Blackburn. 
He  went  only  for  a  little  while,  but  returned  again  and 
even  after  one  more  term  continued  to  serve  the  Gov 
ernment  in  other  positions,  outlasting  many  younger 
Senators  of  that  time. 

There  was  no  regret  expressed  concerning  the  retire 
ment  of  Dave  Hill,  save  by  those  newspaper  men  who 
knew  him  well,  and  whom  he  had  so  often  helped  in  their 
work  about  the  Senate.  But  none  of  the  Senators  had 
made  friends  with  him.  He  did  not  smoke,  he  never 
took  a  drink,  nor  did  he  play  cards,  and  seldom  went 


A  New  Administration  215 

into  society.  He  could  tell  some  very  good  political 
stories,  but  he  never  intruded  himself  in  the  cloak 
rooms,  consequently  he  was  very  much  apart  from  the 
other  Senators.  "He  flocks  by  himself,"  was  the  com 
ment  of  one  Senator,  which  explained  Hill's  isolation 
and  his  unpopularity. 

Long  before  Hill  left  the  Senate  a  partial  reconcilia 
tion  was  effected  between  him  and  Cleveland.  Hill 
went  to  the  White  House  one  evening  and  it  caused 
the  sensation  of  the  season. 

When  Cal.  Brice  left  the  Senate  he  retired  from 
politics,  devoting  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  business. 
An  incident  of  his  business  life  occurred  very  soon  after. 
Brice  decided  to  buy  a  large  block  of  sugar  stock.  He 
sought  Havemeyer,  the  head  of  the  sugar  company, 
and  informed  the  magnate  of  his  intention.  After 
talking  over  sugar  conditions  Brice  said  that  before  he 
made  the  purchase  he  would  like  to  look  at  the  books. 

"My  books  are  for  myself,"  curtly  replied  Have 
meyer. 

"Good  day,"  said  Brice;  "I'm  in  the  habit  of  dealing 
from  the  inside,  myself." 

Vilas  of  Wisconsin  passed  from  the  political  stage. 
He  had  held  two  Cabinet  positions  in  the  first  Cleveland 
administration,  and  had  ever  been  Cleveland's  most 
devoted  friend.  He  refused  to  support  Bryan  after 
the  adoption  of  the  silver  plank  in  1896,  and  that  ended 
his  political  career,  particularly  so  far  as  any  hope  of 
higher  honors  was  concerned. 

No  one  regarded  Watson  C.  Squire  as  a  statesman, 


216        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

although  I  will  give  him  credit  for  the  monument  which 
was  so  long  in  course  of  construction  to  commemo 
rate  General  Grant.  He  was  a  good-natured,  likeable 
man,  inclined  to  go  along  with  the  tide  of  events.  Some 
thing  of  this  will  be  gathered  from  the  following  incident. 
Squire  had  been  the  first  Senator  from  Washington  and 
once  re-elected.  He  was  again  a  candidate,  but  the  Re 
publicans  lost  control  of  the  legislature.  Upon  his  re 
turn  to  Washington  after  the  election,  Frank  Pettigrew, 
talking  about  the  prospects,  asked : 

"What  are  you  now,  Squire,  Republican,  Democrat, 
or  Pop?" 

"Oh,  I'm  Pop  now,"  replied  Squire,  beaming 
blandly;  "got  a  Pop  legislature." 

It  was  the  last  of  William  A.  PefTer  in  the  Senate, 
but  not  the  last  of  him  in  Washington.  During  the 
six  years  he  had  served  in  the  Senate  he  won  many 
friends.  He  was  more  of  a  Republican  than  a  Populist 
and  acted  with  the  Republicans  most  of  the  time  dur 
ing  his  stay  in  the  Senate.  A  kindly,  whimsical  old 
gentleman,  with  rather  advanced  ideas,  and  a  long 
growth  of  whiskers,  which  brought  him  more  notoriety 
than  his  talents  brought  him  fame,  he  came  and  went 
without  making  any  particular  impression  upon  the 
legislative  history  of  the  country.  At  the  close  of  his 
term  the  Republicans  provided  him  with  a  job  about 
the  Senate  library,  compiling  or  indexing  or  something, 
that  kept  him  busy  during  the  remainder  of  his  days. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

EXTRA  SESSION  OF  1897 

Fifty-fifth  Congress  Convened  to  Revise  the  Tariff — Republicans  in 
Control — The  Dingley  Bill— Vice  President  Hobart  Receives  Recog 
nition — An  Interview  with  McKinley  Never  Heretofore  Published; 
the  President  Did  Not  Believe  He  Was  an  Accident. 

PRESIDENT  McKINLEY  soon  after  his  in- 
auguration  called  the  Fifty-fifth  Congress  in 
extra  session  to  revise  the  tariff.  The  Republicans  had 
regained  control  of  the  Government,  but  it  was  not 
surmised  by  anybody  at  that  time  that  they  would 
have  such  a  long  lease  of  power. 

Reed  was  elected  Speaker  for  his  third  and  last  term. 
Although  he  could  not  win  the  Presidency  he  continued 
in  the  second  place  of  power  in  the  country.  The 
prominence  of  Maine  in  the  nation  at  that  time  was 
somewhat  remarkable.  Besides  Reed  as  Speaker, 
Nelson  Dingley  was  Chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means 
Committee  and  leader  of  the  House;  Charles  A.Boutelle 
was  Chairman  of  Naval  Affairs  and  Seth  Milliken  was 
Chairman  of  Public  Buildings  and  Grounds.  William  P. 
Frye  was  President  pro  tempore  of  the  Senate  and  Chair 
man  of  the  Committee  on  Commerce,  while  Eugene  Hale 
was  Chairman  of  Naval  Affairs  and  the  most  forceful 
and  dominating  man  on  the  Appropriations  Committee. 

217 


2i 8        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Each  of  these  men  from  Maine  had  been  in  continuous 
congressional  service  for  more  than  sixteen  years  and 
several  of  them  for  a  much  longer  period.  Maine  was 
the  most  powerful  state  in  Congress,  even  with  its  small 
representation. 

The  Democrats  nominated  Joseph  W.  Bailey  for 
Speaker,  and  he  became  the  minority  leader,  although 
men  of  much  longer  service  desired  the  honor.  Then 
as  always  he  was  a  strong,  impetuous  man,  given  too 
much  to  petty  matters  which  he  magnified,  and  not 
confining  himself  to  the  really  great  questions  that  were 
before  the  country. 

Champ  Clark  came  back  after  two  years'  vacation,  as 
did  Frank  W.  Mondell  of  Wyoming.  James  R.  Mann 
of  Illinois  was  a  new  member. 

The  most  prominent  new  senators  were  Thomas  C. 
Platt  of  New  York,  Joseph  B.  Foraker  of  Ohio,  Boies 
Penrose  of  Pennsylvania,  John  C.  Spooner  of  Wisconsin, 
and  Charles  W.  Fairbanks  of  Indiana. 

Platt  had  been  in  the  Senate  before  and  resigned  with 
Roscoe  Conkling  when  the  New  York  Senators  had  their 
disagreement  with  President  Garfield  over  patronage. 

Spooner  had  served  six  years,  but  was  retired  by  the 
Democratic  landslide  of  1890.  Upon  his  return  in 
1897,  he  took  his  place  as  a  leading  man  without  having 
to  serve  any  apprenticeship  as  a  new  Senator.  He  and 
his  friends  had  been  for  McKinley  early  in  the  presi 
dential  campaign  and  he  stood  high  with  the  new 
Administration. 

Fairbanks  had  been  a  McKinley  champion  early  in 


Extra  Session  of  1897  219 

the  contest  and  was  selected  by  the  McKinley  men  for 
temporary  chairman  of  the  convention  at  St.  Louis. 
He  was  a  man  of  ability,  one  of  careful  and  considerate 
manners,  a  certain  marked  reticence,  a  seeming  lack  of 
confidence  in  those  whom  he  met,  and  a  general  aloof 
ness,  which  gained  for  him  the  reputation  of  a  cold, 
austere  sort  of  personage,  which  was  ever  damaging  to 
his  political  prospects.  That  there  was  a  misconception 
concerning  him  made  no  difference.  He  was  the  victim 
of  his  mannerisms,  which  his  enemies  were  always  too 
anxious  to  exaggerate  and  use  to  his  disadvantage. 

One  of  the  new  senators  was  Henry  Heitf eld  of  Idaho, 
who  came  to  the  Senate  in  a  way  that  does  not  often 
happen.  He  was  elected  by  his  own  vote  in  a  very  close 
and  doubtful  contest.  The  Idaho  legislature  was 
mixed,  neither  Republicans,  Democrats,  nor  Populists 
having  a  majority.  The  Democrats  and  Populists  were 
inclined  to  fusion,  but  there  were  so  many  aspirants 
that  they  could  not  unite  on  any  one  man. 

Heitf  eld  was  a  Populist  member  of  the  legislature  and 
at  times  received  a  number  of  votes,  he  himself  always 
voting  for  another  man.  One  day  there  was  quite  a 
large  vote  cast  for  Heitfeld,  but  no  one  supposed  that  he 
was  near  an  election.  When  the  roll  call  was  completed 
Heitfeld  arose  and  said : 

"Mr.  President,  I  desire  to  change  my  vote.  I  vote 
for  Heitf  eld." 

This  produced  a  loud  roar  of  laughter  and  a 
great  deal  of  chaffing  of  Heitfeld,  and  meanwhile  the 
clerks  were  making  up  the  tally,  and  the  first 


220        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

thing  that  legislature  knew  the  presiding  officer  was 
saying : 

"Henry  Heitfeld  having  received  a  majority  of  all  the 
votes  is  hereby  declared  elected  United  States  Senator 
for  the  term  of  six  years." 

Heitfeld  had  carefully  kept  track  of  the  votes  and 
when  he  found  that  he  could  be  elected  by  his  own  vote 
he  voted  for  himself.  Many  a  man  has  been  elected  to 
the  Senate  by  methods  far  less  commendable. 

Boies  Penrose  came  to  the  Senate  as  a  Pennsylvania 
organization  man.  He  was  a  part  of  the  Cameron- 
Quay  machine  which  had  so  long  dominated  Penn 
sylvania;  worked  in  absolute  harmony  with  Quay  and 
was  for  the  organization  first  and  always.  He  was 
comparatively  young  when  he  came  to  the  Senate,  and  a 
fine  type  of  manhood,  large  in  bulk,  and  tall  in  stature, 
with  curly,  dark  hair.  A  man  of  education,  wealth  and 
political  standing,  it  was  somewhat  surprising  that 
Penrose  should  have  been  a  bachelor. 

"Boies,"  said  one  of  his  friends,  "you  ought  to  get 
married,  now  that  you  are  down  there  in  Washington. 
You  ought  to  have  a  place  in  society,  and  you  can't  do 
that  very  well  without  a  wife." 

' '  Do  you  think  so  ? "  replied  Penrose.  ' '  Well,  if  you 
will  find  an  agreeable  lady  who  is  acceptable  to  the 
organization,  I  will  marry  her." 

And  he  never  drooped  an  eyelid  nor  changed  the 
serious,  earnest  look  that  induced  Champ  Clark  to 
describe  it  as  that  of  a  graven  image. 

Of  all  the  new  Senators  none  was  so  well  known 


Extra  Session  of  1897  221 

throughout  the  whole  country  as  Foraker.  During  the 
twelve  years  he  was  in  the  Senate  he  was  a  forceful,  com 
manding  figure,  independent  of  party  managers  and 
wholly  confident  of  himself.  He  never  belonged  to 
the  "inner  circle,"  never  was  a  member  of  the  "steering 
committee,"  nor  was  he  considered  eligible  as  one  of  the 
coterie  that  surrounded  the  "inner  circle"  and  were  a 
sort  of  outside  fringe  or  body  guard  to  the  "Big  Six." 

Foraker  was  an  officer  in  the  Civil  War,  entering  that 
conflict  before  he  was  of  lawful  age.  He  was  a  power 
in  Ohio  politics,  was  twice  Governor,  and  many  times 
one  of  the  "big  four,"  as  delegates-at-large  to  national 
conventions  are  called.  As  far  back  as  1884,  he  had 
placed  John  Sherman  in  nomination  for  President. 
In  1888  he  seconded  Sherman's  nomination.  It  is 
reported  that  if  he  had  become  a  second  Garfield  and 
yielded  to  the  persuasion  of  friends,  he  might  have  been 
nominated  in  the  convention  of  1888  instead  of  Harri 
son.  Foraker  twice  placed  McKinley  in  nomination  for 
President,  at  St.  Louis  and  Philadelphia.  And  at  no 
time  was  he  a  real  McKinley  man. 

Many  years  before,  in  1884  I  think,  he  had  reason  to 
feel  that  McKinley  was  not  entirely  dependable.  Then, 
in  after  years  he  had  a  break  with  Mark  Hanna  and 
McKinley  was  Mark  Hanna's  favorite.  Naturally,  it 
was  with  no  degree  of  ardor  that  Foraker  went  upon  the 
platform  and  named  McKinley  for  President,  because 
he  must  have  felt  all  the  time  that  he,  more  than 
McKinley,  was  entitled  to  be  Ohio's  favorite  son. 

When  it  became  known  in  1896  that  Foraker  was  to 


222        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

place  McKinley  in  nomination,  a  newspaper  man  went 
to  him  and  asked  him  for  an  advance  copy  of  his  speech. 
He  was  told  that  Foraker  never  prepared  his  speeches 
in  advance. 

"I  suppose,  Governor,"  said  the  newspaper  man, 
"that  this  will  be  the  greatest  effort  of  your  life?" 

"What  do  you  think  I  would  do  for  a  friend?"  was 
the  reply,  the  tone  as  much  as  the  words  indicating  that 
Foraker  did  not  feel  elated  at  the  prospect. 

Foraker  had  an  opportunity  to  show  his  mettle  in 
the  Senate  during  the  first  session.  Senator  Allen  of 
Nebraska,  in  one  of  his  impetuous  and  vigorous  speeches, 
asserted  that  the  election  of  1896  had  been  carried  by 
fraud  and  corruption,  and  charged  that  the  greatest 
corruption  was  in  Ohio.  Foraker  went  into  the  affray 
as  if  leading  a  cavalry  charge,  and  soon  had  Allen  back 
ing  from  one  place  to  another,  because  the  Ohio  Senator 
insisted  upon  specific  instances  and  data  of  election 
frauds.  Having  every  part  of  Ohio  and  all  conditions 
in  his  mind,  Foraker  was  able  to  make  a  defense  of  his 
state  that  nonplussed  the  Nebraska  Senator. 

The  Republicans  had  a  bare  majority  in  the  Senate. 
Had  all  the  silver  men  and  Populists  voted  with  the 
Democrats,  it  would  have  required  the  vote  of  the 
Vice  President  to  carry  a  measure.  But  there  were 
silver  men  like  Jones  and  Stewart  of  Nevada,  who  had 
not  gone  over  to  the  Democrats  on  anything  except 
silver  and  were  still  strong  protectionists. 

The  Ways  and  Means  Committee  for  a  long  time  had 
been  working  on  a  tariff  bill  and  the  Dingley  bill  was 


Extra  Session  of  1897  223 

presented  soon  after  the  House  was  organized.  With 
machine-like  precision  it  was  pushed  through  the 
House.  Nothing  of  any  moment  happened  during  its 
consideration  in  that  body.  The  Republicans  were  all 
committed  to  a  higher  tariff  and  the  Dingley  bill  was 
drawn  on  the  lines  of  the  McKinley  bill,  which  they 
asserted  had  received  endorsement  in  the  recent 
election. 

When  the  bill  was  reported  from  the  committee 
some  one  called  Reed's  attention  to  the  rather  excessive 
duties  on  toothpicks,  almost  wholly  a  Maine  product. 

"I  have  paid  very  little  attention  to  the  details 
of  the  bill,"  drawled  Reed;  "I  felt  that  I  could  trust  the 
governor" — he  always  called  Dingley  governor — "to 
look  after  Maine's  interests." 

There  was  the  usual  trouble  about  the  sugar  schedule 
when  the  bill  reached  the  Senate.  Aldrich  had  framed 
the  schedule  and  it  was  a  wonderful  production.  He 
devoted  several  hours  to  an  explanation  in  the  Senate, 
and  when  he  concluded  everybody  knew  less  than  before. 
But  the  Senate  was  not  going  to  trust  Aldrich  with  that 
schedule,  nor  with  the  bill.  There  was  an  insurgent 
movement,  but  before  it  reached  any  large  proportions 
Aldrich  became  conveniently  ill,  and  the  management  of 
the  bill  was  turned  over  to  Allison. 

There  was  a  flurry  about  the  woolen  schedule. 
Senators  representing  wool-growing  states  thought  the 
manufacturers  had  the  best  of  them  in  the  rates 
proposed.  At  first  no  attention  was  paid  to  their 
protests.  Then  one  day  Foraker,  Carter,  and  a  few 


224        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

other  Republicans  from  wool-producing  states,  voted 
with  the  Democrats  on  one  of  the  items  in  the  schedule 
and  disarranged  the  entire  scheme.  This  caused  a 
great  deal  of  consternation.  Allison,  who  was  forever 
smoothing  things  out,  was  very  much  distressed.  He 
hastily  adjourned  the  Senate  and  the  wool  insurgents 
were  called  in  conference.  The  schedule  was  rewritten 
in  a  form  satisfactory  to  the  protesting  Senators  and 
there  was  no  more  trouble  over  the  tariff  bill. 

Before  the  bill  was  reported  to  the  Senate,  Elkins  of 
West  Virginia  had  some  difficulty  in  getting  the  Finance 
Committee  to  give  him  what  he  wanted  for  his  state. 
He  had  several  interviews  with  Aldrich,  whose  bland 
smile  and  somewhat  patronizing,  if  not  supercilious 
air,  exasperated  Elkins. 

"You  assume  to  know  all  about  the  tariff,"  bluntly 
remarked  Elkins,  "but  your  knowledge  is  limited. 
You  may  know  all  about  Rhode  Island  jack-knives  and 
Connecticut  jimcracks,  but  you  don't  know  anything 
about  the  broad  commercial  considerations  of  supply 
and  demand,  transportation,  and  many  other  matters 
that  enter  into  the  subject  of  tariffs." 

That  was  a  costly  outburst  for  Elkins.  He  was  am 
bitious  during  his  entire  career  in  the  Senate  to  secure 
a  place  on  the  Finance  Committee,  but  Aldrich  treasured 
up  that  remark  and  would  not  allow  Elkins  to  become  a 
member  of  the  committee  which  he  dominated. 

A  singularly  interesting  development  of  the  early 
days  of  the  McKinley  administration  was  the  treatment 
of  the  Vice  President.  For  the  first  time  in  my 


Extra  Session  of  1897  225 

recollection,  and  the  last,  for  that  matter,  the  Vice 
President  was  recognized  as  somebody,  as  a  part  of  the 
Administration,  and  as  a  part  of  the  body  over  which  he 
presided. 

Garret  A.  Hobart  was  a  friend  of  McKinley  and  had 
been  very  useful  to  Hanna  both  before  and  after  the 
nomination  at  St.  Louis.  Very  soon  after  he  began  to 
preside  over  the  Senate  he  made  many  friends  in  that 
body.  He  was  consulted  by  the  Senators  and  was  one 
of  them  to  all  intents  and  purposes ;  he  was  not  looked 
upon  as  simply  a  necessary  evil  which  the  Constitution 
foisted  upon  them  as  a  presiding  officer. 

He  was  not  looked  upon  as  one  waiting  for  "a  dead 
man's  shoes."  He  was  a  frequent  and  welcome  guest 
at  the  White  House  and  in  the  consultations  which  Mc 
Kinley  had  with  prominent  men  in  Congress  it  nearly 
always  happened  that  Hobart  was  called  in  just  as  were 
Cabinet  officers. 

Hobart  was  a  genial  man,  a  business  politician,  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  conditions  which  then  governed  the 
relations  between  business  and  politics  and  was  very 
helpful  in  making  adjustments.  In  this  he  was  useful 
to  the  Senate  and  to  the  President. 

The  idea  which  seems  to  prevail  that  a  Vice  President 
is  simply  a  vulture  waiting  for  something  to  happen  to 
the  President  recalls  a  story  of  George  Vest. 

The  Missouri  Senator  and  Amos  J.  Cummings  were 
fishing  down  South  one  winter.  A  cold  day  came  and 
Vest,  then  in  poor  health,  was  huddled  up  in  the  boat, 
his  coat  collar  turned  up  over  his  ears.  Cummings 

VOL.  I — IS 


226        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

caught  a  stingaree,  one  of  the  useless  creatures  that 
prey  upon  fish  and  interfere  with  the  real  sport.  They 
pulled  inshore  and  the  creature  was  flung  upon  the 
sand  where  it  began  to  curl  up  and  shrivel  away.  At 
that  moment  a  certain  kind  of  fish  hawk  alighted  upon 
a  limb  of  a  tree  and  sat  watching  the  stingaree  collapse. 

"Amos,"  said  Vest,  "do  you  see  that  old  crow  watch 
ing  that  stingaree?  Well,  down  in  Missouri  there  is  an 
old  crow,  Bill  Stone,  who  is  watching  me  just  like  that 
fellow  on  the  limb  is  watching  that  stingaree.  He 
wants  to  come  to  the  Senate." 

But  Vest  did  not  die  in  the  Senate.  He  quit  when  his 
health  no  longer  permitted  him  to  serve  his  state. 

President  McKinley  never  talked  much  about  himself 
or  his  affairs,  but  once  he  ventured  on  the  personal  and 
political  side  of  his  career  and  showed  that  he  resented 
the  idea  that  his  advancement  to  the  Presidency  had 
any  features  of  accident  or  luck.  I  had  an  interview 
with  him  on  the  subject  which  has  not  been  published 
heretofore. 

"You  know  they  talk  of  McKinley  luck,  Mr. 
President,"  I  said.  " It  is  claimed  that  you  were  lucky 
in  being  defeated  for  Speaker  of  the  Fifty -first  Congress, 
otherwise  your  name  would  not  have  been  associated 
with  the  tariff  bill  which  gave  you  a  reputation  and 
which  finally  brought  about  your  nomination  for 
President." 

"Well,  at  all  events,"  replied  Mr.  McKinley,  "I  had 
to  have  a  majority  of  the  Delegates  at  the  national 
convention.  The  other  candidates  and  their  friends 


Extra  Session  of  1897  227 

tried  to  get  all  the  Delegates  they  could.  As  you 
remember,  there  was  quite  a  lively  race  in  the  early 
stages  of  the  campaign  previous  to  the  convention  in 
1896. 

"I  was  not  an  unknown  presidential  possibility  in 
1896,"  continued  the  President.  "I  had  served  in  the 
Union  Army  during  the  Civil  War ;  I  had  served  fourteen 
years  in  the  House  of  Representatives  and  was  Chairman 
of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  during  the  Fifty-first 
Congress.  After  having  been  defeated  for  Congress  in 
a  gerrymandered  district  in  1890,  I  was  twice  elected 
Governor  of  Ohio  and  had  served  four  years  as  chief 
executive  of  that  state  before  the  national  convention  of 
1896.  In  the  national  convention  of  1888  I  received 
quite  a  large  number  of  votes  for  President.  In  1892, 
I  received  one-fourth  of  the  votes  of  the  Delegates  in  the 
national  convention  at  Minneapolis,  even  after  I  had 
protested  in  the  convention  against  the  use  of  my  name 
as  a  presidential  candidate.  I  felt  in  honor  bound  to 
support  Mr.  Harrison  who  was  entitled  to  a  second  term. 

"The  Republicans  of  the  United  States  had  not  been 
entirely  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  I  was  available  as  a 
presidential  candidate  in  at  least  two  conventions  prior 
to  that  which  assembled  in  1896.  So  far  as  luck  is 
concerned  it  is  possible  that  the  element  of  chance 
enters  into  politics  as  it  does  into  other  affairs  of  life, 
but  the  selection  of  a  presidential  candidate  is  not  often 
left  to  chance  when  there  are  assembled  the  represen 
tatives  of  a  political  party  from  all  parts  of  the  country 
and  supposed  to  represent  the  best  in  that  party. 


228        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

"I  believe  that  my  reputation  as  a  Republican  and  a 
protectionist  had  much  to  do  with  bringing  about  my 
nomination  in  1896,  and  perhaps  the  McKinley  tariff 
bill  had  made  an  impression  upon  many  people  through 
out  the  country,  especially  after  the  Democratic  tariff 
of  1894.  But  there  were  other  considerations  which 
induced  the  Republicans  to  select  me  as  their  nominee. 
It  was  desirable  to  make  sure  of  carrying  Ohio.  The 
silver  issue  loomed  large  upon  the  political  horizon 
at  that  time,  and  it  would  have  been  imprudent  to 
have  taken  a  man  from  New  York  or  the  East.  New 
York,  Pennsylvania  and  Maine  had  candidates,  but  the 
West  was  not  satisfied  with  any  of  them.  There  were 
candidates  from  Iowa  and  Minnesota,  but  it  was  not 
expedient  to  nominate  men  from  those  states. 

"I  think  if  we  should  calmly  review  the  situation  as  it 
existed,  it  will  occur  to  the  close  student  of  political 
events  that,  all  things  considered,  it  was  desirable  to 
take  a  man  from  the  Middle  West,  and  that  a  man  who 
had  twice  carried  Ohio  during  the  troublesome  times 
previous  to  1896  was  entirely  available  as  a  candidate. 
I  cannot  subscribe  to  the  idea  that  accident  or  luck 
had  very  much  to  do  with  making  me  President  of  the 
United  States." 


CHAPTER  XXII 

CONFLICT  WITH  SPAIN 

War  Forced  upon  an  Unwilling  Administration — Democratic  Minority 
Aided  by  Republican  Insurgents  Overcomes  Conservative  Element 
— McKinley,  Reed,  Hanna  and  Others  Cannot  Stem  the  Tide— 
Bryan  an  Influence  for  War — Mistakes  and  Blunders  as  Usual — 
Victory  in  One  Hundred  Days. 

A  WAR  spirit  which  had  been  dormant  for  more  than 
**  thirty  years  was  aroused  to  activity  in  1898. 
After  more  than  three  decades  of  peace  the  desire  to 
shed  blood,  coupled  with  the  lust  for  land,  forced  an 
unwilling  Administration  into  war  with  Spain.  The 
United  States  fought  a  decrepit  and  almost  bankrupt 
nation;  wrested  from  her  the  last  of  her  American 
possessions;  and,  going  far  afield,  seized  and  held  the 
Asiatic  archipelago  which  had  been  under  Spanish  rule 
for  two  centuries.  The  course  of  American  history  was 
changed  by  the  war.  The  United  States  became  a 
world  power  with  distant  colonies.  The  war  hastened 
the  annexation  of  Hawaii  and  the  construction  of  the 
Panama  canal.  It  developed  two  men  who  became 
Presidents  of  the  United  States. 

Comparatively  few  people  want  war  at  any  time,  but 
a  determined  minority,  with  anything  like  a  reasonable 
excuse  for  fighting,  has  always  been  able  to  force  a  war. 
In  1898  there  was  the  incentive  of  a  suffering  people 

229 


230        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

at  our  door  struggling  for  freedom.  More  than  that, 
there  was  a  rich  and  fertile  island  which  had  ever 
whetted  the  land-hungry  desire  implanted  in  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  breast  from  the  time  of  Hengist  and  Horsa. 

The  politics  of  the  situation  was  also  opportune.  For 
four  years  the  Republicans — with  an  eye  to  political 
effect — baited  the  Cleveland  administration  with  the 
Cuban  situation.  Many  Republicans  tried  to  put 
through  Congress  a  resolution  recognizing  the  bellig 
erent  rights  of  the  revolutionists  in  Cuba.  Outside  of 
Congress  the  filibustering  expeditions  against  Spain 
were  encouraged  and  the  enforcement  of  strict 
neutrality  by  the  United  States  Government  was 
criticized. 

When  McKinley  became  President  the  situation  was 
reversed.  The  Democrats  became  the  baiters  and  the 
Republicans — particularly  those  of  the  conservative 
type — became  supporters  of  strict  neutrality  and 
opposed  everything  that  looked  to  war  with  Spain. 
The  Democrats  who  remained  in  Congress  after  the 
party  split  of  1896  were  practically  all  anti-Cleveland 
men,  and  they  had  neither  pride  nor  purpose  in  defend 
ing  the  policies  of  the  late  Administration,  but  they  were 
anxious  and  insistent  upon  ''putting  the  Republicans  in 
a  hole.1' 

Then  there  were  many  men  in  both  parties  who 
honestly  and  patriotically  believed  that  Spanish  rule  in 
Cuba  should  cease.  Spain  herself,  like  nations  or 
people  bent  on  self-destruction,  helped  along  the  war 
spirit  in  this  country  by  committing  outrages  and 


Conflict  with  Spain  231 

atrocities  which  filled  the  minds  of  the  people  with 
horror  and  indignation.  The  stories  about  what  was 
taking  place  in  Cuba  were  told  in  a  manner  to  inflame 
American  manhood.  Many  newspapers  used  their 
utmost  endeavors  to  arouse  the  people  and  force  war 
for  the  freedom  of  Cuba. 

During  the  winter  of  1898  the  war  feeling  broke 
forth  in  Congress.  With  an  Administration  intensely 
opposed  to  war,  a  Senate  in  which  such  leaders  as 
Aldrich,  Allison,  Hale,  Hanna,  Platt  and  Spooner,  the 
"Big  Six"  of  the  body,  were  determined  not  to  have 
war,  a  House  of  Representatives  having  Tom  Reed  for 
Speaker,  who  was  determined  not  to  have  war,  war  was 
declared.  It  was  because  the  "insurgents"  in  the  Re 
publican  party  were  so  numerous  in  both  Houses,  and 
were  determined  to  unite  with  the  Democrats,  that  the 
Republican  leaders  were  at  length  forced  to  yield. 
McKinley  and  Hanna,  with  all  the  power  of  Federal 
patronage,  could  not  control  a  majority  in  either  House. 
In  the  Senate  were  Davis  of  Minnesota,  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  Foraker  of  Ohio, 
Quay  of  Pennsylvania,  Chandler  of  New  Hampshire, 
Thurston  of  Nebraska,  Proctor  of  Vermont,  and  other 
Republicans,  intent  upon  intervention  in  Cuba.  They 
were  assisted  by  such  men  as  Teller  of  Colorado, 
Pettigrew  of  South  Dakota,  and  Cannon  of  Utah,  who 
had  bolted  the  Republican  convention  in  1896  on  the 
silver  issue,  but  who  at  that  time  had  not  gone  clear 
over  to  the  Democratic  party. 

Pettigrew,  who  was  busying  himself  in  stirring  up 


232        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

certain  members  in  the  house  to  a  point  of  insurgency, 
one  day  explained  his  position  to  me.  "I  don't  care 
anything  about  Cuba, ' '  he  said.  ' '  The  island  would  not 
be  worth  anything  to  us  unless  it  was  sunk  for  twenty- 
four  hours  to  get  rid  of  its  present  population,  but  I 
want  a  war  with  Spain,  because  I  believe  it  will  put 
us  on  a  silver  basis." 

The  Republicans  had  about  fifty  majority  in  the  House, 
but  the  insurgents  who  broke  away  from  the  control  of 
Tom  Reed  and  his  lieutenants  numbered  about  forty,  and 
were  led  by  such  men  as  Tawney  of  Minnesota,  Mann 
and  Lorimer  of  Illinois,  Wm.  Alden  Smith  of  Michigan, 
Cooper  of  Wisconsin,  and  others  who  did  not  become  so 
prominent  in  after  life.  Cooper  always  continued  to  be 
an  insurgent  or  independent,  but  the  time  came  when 
Tawney  and  Mann  were  taken  into  the  select  circle  of 
House  managers  and  were  thereafter  regular. 

Joseph  W.  Bailey  of  Texas  was  the  minority  leader, 
and  with  Champ  Clark  as  an  able  assistant,  and  the 
Democrats  in  solid  phalanx  behind  them,  marched 
toward  the  warpath.  Day  after  day  they  tried  to 
outwit  the  wily  Reed  and  bring  a  vote  upon  a  resolution 
declaring  the  belligerency  of  the  Cuban  revolutionists 
or  recognizing  the  independence  of  Cuba,  either  of 
which  would  have  brought  on  war  with  Spain.  It  took 
the  greatest  exertion  upon  the  part  of  Reed,  Cannon, 
Payne,  Henderson,  Grosvenor  and  Dalzell,  who  were 
the  rulers  of  the  House,  to  prevent  a  situation  aris 
ing  by  which  the  Democrats,  aided  by  insurgent 
Republicans,  would  obtain  control.  After  the  war 


Conflict  with  Spain  233 

resolution  was  passed  it  was  Champ  Clark  who  voiced 
the  Democratic  idea  in  his  blunt  way : 

"We  had  to  take  you  Republicans  by  the  scruff  of  the 
neck  and  drag  you  into  this  war,  and  now  you  are 
claiming  the  credit  for  it." 

It  was  while  Clark  and  Bailey  were  doing  the 
dragging  just  alluded  to  that  James  Hamilton  Lewis, 
then  a  member  of  the  House  from  Washington  State, 
met  me  in  the  corridor  and  delivered  himself  of  this 
piece  of  wisdom : 

"My  dear  boy,  do  you  know  what  we  are  doing  in 
there," — indicating  the  chamber  of  the  House — "and 
I  mean  my  party?  We  are  forcing  a  war  which  will 
give  the  Republicans  a  lease  of  power  for  the  next  ten 
years." 

The  brilliant  Lewis  underestimated  the  period  by  four 
years. 

I  repeated  the  remark  to  Senator  Spooner  a  short 
time  afterwards. 

"So,"  he  said,  "Lewis  no  doubt  had  in  mind  that  old 
jingle: 

"'He  digged  a  pit, 

He  digged  it  deep, 
He  digged  it  for  his  brother; 

It  so  fell  out 

That  he  fell  in 
The  pit  he  digged  for  t'other.'  " 

During  the  preliminary  congressional  skirmishes 
before  the  war  resolution  was  passed  a  number  of 
interesting  incidents  occurred.  One  of  these  was  of  a 


234        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

surprising  character.  Redfield  Proctor  was  one  of  the 
men  from  New  England  who  had  first  deserted  Tom 
Reed  and  gone  to  McKinley  in  1896.  He  was  close  to 
the  Administration,  a  friend  of  Hanna,  and  was  one  of 
the  men  who  framed  the  gold  plank  of  the  Republican 
platform  at  St.  Louis.  Proctor  went  to  Cuba  and 
looked  over  the  situation.  Upon  his  return  he  refused 
to  say  anything,  reserving  himself  for  a  speech  in  the 
Senate.  When  delivered  the  speech  attracted  much 
attention.  Much  to  the  surprise  of  everybody,  and 
with  a  shock  to  Hanna  and  the  Administration, 
Proctor  declared  for  intervention. 

It  was  Tom  Reed,  who,  not  forgetting  1896,  and  basing 
his  remark  upon  the  fact  that  Proctor  owned  large 
marble  quarries  in  Vermont,  delivered  this  sarcastic 
comment : 

"Proctor's  position  might  have  been  expected.  A 
war  will  make  a  large  market  for  gravestones.'* 

The  feeling  between  the  parties  was  often  shown 
when  Reed  and  Bailey  had  tilts.  Reed  would  drawl  out 
his  retorts  to  Bailey  in  the  most  exasperating  manner, 
and  often  would  carry  on  the  dispute  until  Bailey 
would  declare  that  an  absolute  falsehood  was  uttered,  or 
something  to  that  effect,  and  Reed  would  remark  that 
the  members  of  the  House  could  pass  upon  a  question 
of  fact.  Bailey  was  fiery  in  those  days,  but  he  never 
reached  a  stage  of  assaulting  the  big  New  England 
Speaker. 

The  Administration  was  doing  everything  in  its  power 
to  prevent  war.  President  McKinley  did  not  want  war, 


Conflict  with  Spain  235 

nor  did  any  of  the  men  who  were  conservative  in  their 
views.  Even  some  of  the  Republicans  who  had  tried 
to  embarrass  the  Cleveland  administration  were  then  in 
a  pacific  mood.  Big  business,  which  never  before  had 
such  a  hold  upon  a  national  administration,  was  doing 
everything  in  its  power  to  prevent  war. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  McKinley's  attitude 
brought  forth  that  tart  criticism  from  Theodore 
Roosevelt  to  the  effect  that  "McKinley  had  a  back 
bone  of  about  the  same  consistency  as  a  jelly-fish." 
Roosevelt  was  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  and  was 
doing  everything  he  could  to  bring  about  intervention 
in  Cuba. 

All  the  great  powers  of  Europe  did  their  utmost  to 
prevent  war.  The  Catholic  Church  took  a  hand  and 
Archbishop  Ireland  was  called  from  St.  Paul  and 
through  the  Vatican  tried  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  on 
Spain  to  avoid  a  conflict.  This  method  had  almost 
succeeded  at  one  stage.  Senator  Elkins  of  West 
Virginia,  who  was  a  fluent  Spanish  linguist,  was  in 
frequent  communication  with  Minister  Dupuy  de 
Lome.  After  one  of  these  conferences,  in  which 
Archbishop  Ireland  had  taken  part,  Elkins  was  jubilant. 

"It's  all  fixed,"  he  told  me.  "Spain  is  going  to 
relinquish  Cuba.  It  is  not  going  to  be  one  of  those 
autonomy  propositions,  but  a  real  withdrawal  of 
Spanish  power  from  Cuba.  It  only  remains  now  to 
arrange  the  details  so  that  Spain  can  retire  gracefully." 

Then  appeared  the  famous  De  Lome  letter  in  which 
the  Spanish  minister  called  President  McKinley  a  cheap 


236        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

politician  playing  to  the  jingoes  in  the  United  States 
while  trying  to  pull  the  wool  over  the  minister's  eyes. 
Of  course,  De  Lome  had  to  go  forthwith.  His  successor 
was  never  able  to  do  much  in  the  way  of  peace 
negotiations. 

There  are  people  who  believe  that  if  the  Maine  had 
not  been  blown  up  in  Havana  Harbor  war  might  have 
been  avoided.  The  Maine  was  destroyed  on  February 
15,  1898,  and  it  was  not  until  April  25th  that  the 
resolution  which  meant  war  was  passed.  But  the  feel 
ing  had  been  growing  more  and  more  intense  as  fresh 
stories  of  Spanish  atrocities  against  the  Cubans  were 
told.  The  destruction  of  the  Maine  made  war  inevi 
table,  and- the  Government  began  preparations  for  the 
conflict. 

The  activity  of  William  J.  Bryan  about  that  time 
was  quite  significant  and,  in  view  of  his  stand  afterwards 
for  peace,  is  well  worth  recalling.  While  the  struggle 
between  the  Administration  and  the  conservative 
element  on  one  side,  with  the  Democrats  and  the 
insurgent  Republicans  on  the  other,  was  at  its  height  Mr. 
Bryan  went  to  Washington  to  attend  one  of  the  many 
Jefferson  banquets  which  occur  in  that  city.  His 
speech  had  more  reference  to  free  silver  and  the  Chicago 
platform  than  anything  else,  but  he  did  talk  about  Cuba, 
and  waved  a  Cuban  flag  amidst  the  greatest  enthusiasm. 
He  asserted  that  the  independence  of  Cuba  should  be 
recognized  and  that  the  United  States  should  intervene. 
This,  of  course,  meant  war.  Everybody  knew  it  meant 
war,  and  this  was  at  a  time  when  the  national  adminis- 


Conflict  with  Spain  237 

tration  was  bending  every  effort  to  secure  an  adjust 
ment  by  peaceful  means.  But  Mr.  Bryan  lived  up  to 
his  profession.  When  war  came  he  went  out  at  the 
head  of  the  3rd  Nebraska  regiment  and  was  as  ready  to 
do  his  duty  as  any  other  man.  He  was  sent  forward 
with  the  regiment  to  a  southern  camp,  and  if  Spain  had 
not  yielded  after  the  blows  by  land  and  sea  at  Santiago, 
he  might  have  made  a  military  reputation  as  did  the 
man  who  was  his  rival  in  the  public  eye  for  twenty 
years. 

The  speech  which  Bryan  made  at  the  banquet  was 
alluded  to  in  the  debates  in  the  Senate.  One  Demo 
cratic  senator  said  that  the  voice  of  Mr.  Bryan  was 
the  command  of  six  million  Democrats  who  had  voted 
for  him  in  1896,  which  caused  Senator  Hale  to  remark, 
sarcastically,  that  he  had  noticed  that  the  Democrats 
took  their  orders  from  their  lately  defeated  candidate. 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  proceedings  in  Congress 
before  the  war  resolution  passed  was  the  manner  in 
which  Speaker  Reed  stood  up  for  the  policies  of  the 
President  who  had  defeated  him  for  the  grand  prize 
two  years  before.  Reed  had  a  distinct  repugnance 
to  expansion,  particularly  in  the  tropics.  He  saw  no 
use  in  taking  over  any  of  the  islands  of  the  sea,  and  was 
strongly  opposed  to  the  acquisition  of  Hawaii,  which 
had  been  a  topic  of  discussion  for  many  years. 

It  was  before  the  Spanish  war  that  Mr.  Reed  and  Joe 
Chamberlain,  then  the  big  man  of  England,  had  an 
interesting  conversation  in  London. 

"Why  don't  you  get  into  the  Eastern  game?"  asked 


238        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Chamberlain.  "  That  is  going  to  be  the  great  theatre 
of  the  nations  in  the  future." 

Reed  told  him  that  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States 
he  believed  that  our  power  lay  in  holding  to  our  present 
territorial  limits.  After  the  Spanish  war,  when  expan 
sion  had  worked  its  will  and  we  had  the  Philippines, 
Porto  Rico,  a  protectorate  over  Cuba,  and  had  annexed 
Hawaii,  with  all  the  manifold  cares  and  responsibilities 
which  these  new  possessions  added  to  the  country, 
Reed  referred  to  his  conversation  with  Chamberlain, 
saying : 

"I  can  imagine  the  sardonic  grin  on  old  Joe's  face  as 
he  contemplates  our  present  situation.'* 

There  was  a  bitter  contest  over  the  preliminary 
resolution  which  declared  the  people  of  Cuba  independ 
ent  and  paved  the  way  for  war.  Like  the  resolution 
which  preceded  the  war  with  Germany,  it  was  evasive 
in  its  terms.  It  contained  a  provision  known  as  the 
Teller  amendment,  because  it  was  presented  by  the 
Colorado  Senator,  which  declared  the  United  States 
disclaimed  any  purpose  of  exercising  "sovereignty, 
jurisdiction  or  control"  over  Cuba.  That  provision 
returned  to  plague  this  government,  and  has  always 
stood  in  the  way  of  annexation  of  the  island  by  the 
United  States.  However,  under  the  Platt  Amendment, 
which  the  Cubans  were  forced  to  accept  after  the  war, 
the  United  States  exercises  jurisdiction  and  control 
over  Cuba  in  a  very  great  degree.  The  resolution 
contained  another  provision  which  caused  a  protracted 
contest  between  the  Senate  and  House.  It  was  the 


Conflict  with  Spain  239 

declaration  that  "the  people  of  Cuba  are,  and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  free  and  independent."  The  conservative 
element  fought  long  to  have  the  words  "are,  and" 
eliminated,  but  finally  yielded,  because  it  was  feared 
that  a  straight  declaration  of  Cuban  independence  and 
recognition  of  the  Cuban  Government  as  it  then  existed 
might  be  put  through  Congress  by  the  impatient  mem 
bers  who  were  becoming  more  and  more  aroused  against 
Spain.  In  such  an  event  the  immense  issue  of  Cuban 
bonds  then  in  existence  would  have  become  valuable 
instead  of  waste  paper. 

It  was  not  long  after  the  war  resolution  was  passed 
that  the  declaration  of  war  was  made,  and  then  followed 
legislation  to  provide  an  army.  Having  entered  upon 
war  Congress  found  it  necessary  to  make  provision  for 
men,  supplies,  ammunition  and  other  things  which  are 
required  in  war.  Blithely  the  Congress  went  forward 
and  declared  "that  the  Cuban  people  are,  and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  free  and  independent,"  and  it  then  became 
necessary  to  prove  it  by  the  armed  force  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  create  that  armed  force,  for  the  United 
States  had  nothing  ready  save  the  naval  vessels,  and 
they  were  not  in  thorough  condition. 

Among  the  things  necessary  to  be  done  was  to  provide 
money,  as  it  was  found  that  this  country  could  not 
embark  gaily  upon  even  a  little  war  with  a  decaying  and 
bankrupt  nation  without  paying  several  hundred 
millions  for  the  experience.  A  war  revenue  bill  was 
passed,  a  bill  which  made  everybody  pay  their  share  to 
make  Cuba  free  and  let  the  people  know  that  war  costs 


240        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

money.  In  that  bill  was  a  bond  provision  which  was 
strenuously  objected  to  by  the  Democrats,  but  having 
voted  for  a  war  they  had  to  vote  supplies,  or  at  least 
they  did  not  dare  hold  up  a  bill  providing  revenue  for 
the  war,  and  so  it  went  through,  though  it  contained 
language  directly  contrary  to  their  party  declarations 
two  years  before.  It  was  Senator  Pettigrew  who  had 
said  that  he  wanted  war  in  order  to  put  this  country 
on  a  silver  basis.  I  remember  meeting  Jonathan  P. 
Dolliver,  at  that  time  a  member  of  the  Committee  on 
Ways  and  Means  of  the  House,  just  after  an  agreement 
had  been  reached  in  committee  on  the  war  revenue  bill, 
and  he  remarked : 

"One  thing  we  have  done  more  important  than  all 
others.  We  have  written  into  that  bill  provisions  which 
fix  the  gold  standard  firmly  upon  this  country  for  the 
next  fifty  years." 

And  so  there  was  no  possibility  of  going  to  a  silver 
basis  as  a  result  of  the  war  with  Spain.  But  neither 
the  ultra  silver  men  nor  the  Democrats,  who  had  been 
most  vociferous  for  war,  secured  any  benefits  out  of  it. 
The  war  really  made  possible  the  Republican  victory 
in  the  fall  of  1898,  and  gave  Mark  Hanna  a  stronger 
grip  on  the  country  than  he  theretofore  had. 

The  mistakes  and  waste  of  the  Spanish  War  caused 
a  great  deal  of  criticism  for  several  years,  and  would  be 
of  some  consequence  if  the  expenditures  of  that  time 
had  not  become  of  puny  insignificance  in  comparison 
with  the  waste  and  extravagance  in  the  war  twenty 
years  later.  From  the  very  beginning  politics  cut  a 


Conflict  with  Spain  241 

leading  part  in  the  war.  The  appointments  of  generals 
and  many  other  officers  were  due  to  influence  rather 
than  to  merit  or  fitness.  President  McKinley  made 
no  distinction  between  Republicans  and  Democrats  or 
the  North  and  the  South,  and  many  men  who  wore  the 
gray  during  the  Civil  War  appeared  in  the  blue  uniform 
of  the  United  States  army.  One  of  these  southerners 
was  General  Joe  Wheeler,  a  member  of  Congress  from 
Alabama.  When  he  appeared  with  the  twin  stars  of  a 
major  general  on  his  shoulders,  he  joyously  exclaimed : 

"It  is  worth  fifteen  years  of  life  to  die  on  a 
battlefield." 

"That's  the  trouble  about  appointing  a  man  like 
Joe  Wheeler  to  such  an  important  command,"  remarked 
Major  John  M.  Carson,  a  newspaper  correspondent  and 
veteran  of  the  Civil  War.  "He  will  have  twenty 
thousand  men  under  him  who  do  not  share  his  opinion, 
and  they  will  not  care  to  lose  fifteen  years  of  their  lives 
to  give  Joe  Wheeler  a  glorious  death." 

In  the  appointment  of  staff  officers  the  sons  and 
relatives  of  men  in  public  and  business  life  were  liberally 
remembered.  When  the  confirmation  of  these  officers 
was  under  consideration  Senator  Pettigrew  of  South 
Dakota  asked  if  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  had 
examined  into  the  military  qualifications  of  these  young 
men  and  could  recommend  them  for  the  Army. 

"The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,"  brusquely 
replied  General  Hawley,  the  chairman,  "has  made  a 
sufficient  examination  to  show  that  all  these  men  are 
backed  by  ample  recommendations  on  the  part  of 

VOL.  I — 16 


242        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

their  fathers  in  the  Senate  and  House,  and  by  influen 
tial  men  elsewhere,  to  secure  their  appointments." 

"That  seems  to  be  sufficient,"  remarked  Pettigrew. 

One  day  when  a  number  of  these  newly  made  Army 
officers,  in  their  glittering  new  uniforms,  were  in  the 
galleries  of  the  House  listening  to  the  debate  on  an  Army 
bill,  James  Hamilton  Lewis  of  Washington  State  deliv 
ered  himself  of  the  following : 

"Mr.  Speaker,  I  am  not  opposing  the  organization  of 
the  Army.  I  am  for  the  organization  of  the  Army,  but 
I  want  the  organization  to  be  of  soldiers.  I  am  oppos 
ing  and  shall  continue  to  oppose  any  reorganization  of 
the  Army  by  tessellated  military  satraps  on  the  one 
hand  and  gilded  society  sapheads  on  the  other." 

It  was  not  long  after  that  Congressman  Lewis, 
transformed  into  Lieutenant  Colonel  Lewis  of  the 
Washington  State  militia,  was  seen  in  the  streets  of  the 
National  Capital  in  a  uniform  as  resplendent  as  that 
of  any  other  "tessellated  military  satrap"  or  "gilded 
society  saphead." 

More  than  one  hundred  thousand  unnecessary  troops 
were  assembled  in  the  camps  for  the  Spanish  war.  They 
were  not  needed  at  the  time  they  were  brought  from 
their  states,  and  it  would  have  been  better  to  have  had 
them  kept  at  home  and  drilled  for  a  time.  As  these 
troops  were  useless,  little  attention  was  given  to  making 
soldiers  of  them.  They  were  the  political  soldiers  of  the 
war  and  allowed  to  run  around  and  do  pretty  much  as 
they  pleased.  With  little  or  no  occupation  and  without 
hope  of  service,  they  deteriorated  as  men  will  under 


Conflict  with  Spain  243 

such  conditions,  and  disease  made  great  inroads  upon 
them. 

The  greatest  blunder  of  the  Spanish  war,  almost 
criminal  in  its  effect,  was  the  political  pull  which  used 
the  longest  possible  railroad  haul  for  sending  soldiers 
and  supplies  to  tide  water  when  destined  for  Cuba.  The 
troops  were  to  sail  from  Tampa,  Florida,  because  it  was 
the  most  available  point  of  embarkation  near  to  Cuba. 
Why  in  the  name  of  commonsense  places  like  New 
Orleans,  Savannah,  Charleston,  Hampton  Roads  and 
New  York  should  not  have  been  chosen  is  beyond  the 
comprehension  of  everybody  save  those  who  knew  why 
the  faraway  point  was  selected. 

And  what  a  mix-up  there  was  down  at  Tampa!  A 
single-track  railroad  leading  to  that  place  and  train  loads 
of  troops  and  supplies  concentrating  from  every  section 
of  the  country  upon  it.  There  were  thirteen  miles  of 
this  single  track  without  turnouts  or  switches  occupied 
by  cars  loaded  with  soldiers,  supplies  and  equipment. 
Troops  disembarked  in  swamps  and  supplies  were 
tumbled  out  of  cars  down  embankments.  Fresh  beef 
became  fly-blown  and  spoiled  because  ice  to  keep  it  cool 
was  melting  away  somewhere  up  the  track.  Soldiers 
were  compelled  to  break  into  cars  to  get  tents  and 
equipage  and  food.  What  they  did  not  want  was  left 
piled  on  the  ground  beside  the  railroad  or  was  thrown 
into  the  bushes.  Men  straggled  into  camp  the  best  way 
they  could;  quartermasters  struggled  with  inadequate 
terminal  facilities ;  commissaries  sought  in  vain  for  the 
food  trains  from  which  they  might  supply  the  hungry 


244        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

troops ;  medical  officers  tried  to  locate  their  supplies  so 
that  they  might  be  equipped  for  the  expedition  to  Cuba. 
It  should  be  remembered  that  the  troops  and  equip 
ments  were  not  for  a  camp  that  might  be  supplied  from 
time  to  time,  but  for  an  army  that  was  going  abroad  in 
ships  for  a  long  military  expedition  against  a  foreign  foe. 
The  utter  lack  of  comprehension  as  to  the  magnitude 
of  the  job  on  hand  was  responsible  for  the  mixed 
conditions  at  Tampa. 

"Ship  twenty  cars  of  beef  to  Tampa." 
"Have  your  regiment  entrain  at  once  for  Tampa.*' 
"Ship  clothing,  tentage,  etc.,  to  Tampa." 
"Send  ten  carloads  of  ice  daily  to  Tampa." 
"Send  medical  supplies  as  per  schedule  to  Tampa." 
"Have  guns,  ammunition  and  other  ordnance  sup 
plies  shipped  at  once  to  Tampa." 

Hundreds  of  similar  orders  were  sent  out  from  the 
War  Department.  Of  course,  there  were  congestion 
and  confusion  which  caused  widespread  criticism. 

There  was  favoritism  in  sending  state  regiments 
aboard  transports  for  Cuba.  Regular  army  regiments 
were  held  back  in  order  to  give  state  regiments  an 
opportunity  to  go  on  the  first  expedition. 

It  was  a  short  war,  and  although  there  were  many 
mistakes,  largely  due  to  lack  of  preparation,  and 
criticism  ran  so  high  as  to  force  Secretary  Alger  from  the 
War  Department,  the  net  result  was  success.  General 
Corbin,  who  shared  with  others  much  of  the  criticism, 
made  no  public  defense,  but  in  a  private  conversation 
he  once  remarked : 


Conflict  with  Spain  245 

"We  went  to  war  for  a  purpose.  We  accomplished 
that  purpose  in  less  than  one  hundred  days.  For  my 
part  I  am  willing  to  let  that  record  of  achievement 
answer  all  critics." 

When  the  war  was  really  over,  by  reason  of  the 
destruction  of  the  Spanish  ships  at  Manila,  the  de 
struction  of  the  Spanish  squadron  off  Santiago  and  the 
capture  of  that  place,  the  pressure  by  troops  in  the 
United  States  for  something  like  real  service  was  too 
strong  to  be  resisted.  Senators  and  Representatives, 
governors  and  militia  officers,  showered  telegrams  and 
personal  requests  upon  the  War  Department  to  have 
troops  given  actual  service. 

So  began  a  brisk  movement  to  Porto  Rico.  All 
possible  transports  were  gathered  and  more  ships  were 
bought.  A  regiment  from  a  state  here  and  a  state 
there  was  hurried  to  the  seashore  and  embarked  on  the 
ships  bound  for  Porto  Rico.  General  Corbin  took  full 
charge  and  his  orders  were  given  with  promptness  and 
determination.  "We  have  got  to  get  those  fellows 
afloat  and  on  their  way  to  Porto  Rico,"  he  said,  "before 
we  get  orders  to  halt  hostilities.  They've  got  to  see 
service  of  some  kind,  or  at  least  get  a  glimpse  of  foreign 
lands,  and  Porto  Rico  is  our  last  chance.  They  have  got 
to  get  off  before  we  get  notice  of  an  armistice." 

And  so,  quietly,  but  with  greatest  expedition,  various 
regiments  were  hurried  aboard  transports  and  sent  to 
Porto  Rico,  which  proved  a  better  picnic  than  Cuba, 
for  they  had  a  very  good  sea  voyage,  a  pleasant  island, 
little  fighting,  and  no  yellow  fever. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE  MAN  OF  THE  HOUR 

Elihu  Root  Takes  Charge  of  the  War  Department  and  the  Problems 
Growing  Out  of  the  Spanish  War — His  Relations  with  Generals 
Miles  and  Corbin — Makes  Laws  for  the  New  Possessions. 

'T'HE  retirement  of  Secretary  Alger  was  pathetic.  He 
did  not  know  he  was  going  to  resign  until  some 
time  after  McKinley  had  decided  that  he  must  go. 
McKinley  was  too  kind-hearted  and  too  suave  to  tell  his 
Secretary  of  War  that  he  ought  to  resign.  The  delicate 
duty  was  delegated  to  Vice  President  Hobart.  There 
always  has  been  more  or  less  of  a  mystery  as  to  just 
what  valuable  use  can  be  made  of  a  Vice  President,  but 
in  those  days  it  was  found  that  a  willing  Vice  President 
could  bear  unpleasant  messages.  On  a  train  from  New 
York  to  Washington  one  day  Hobart  told  Alger  that  he 
ought  to  resign  and  save  the  Administration  embarrass 
ment.  And  with  a  broken  heart  the  Secretary  tendered 
his  resignation  to  McKinley.  He  was  the  victim  of  a 
war  and  a  system  for  which  he  was  in  no  wise  respon 
sible. 

The  friction  between  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the 
Major  General  commanding  had  reached  an  acute 
stage.  Neither  Alger  nor  Miles  saw  each  other,  though 
they  had  to  have  official  communication  with  each  other 

246 


The  Man  of  the  Hour  247 

at  times.  The  business  was  transacted  through 
subordinates.  Just  before  he  went  out  of  office  Alger 
issued  an  order  taking  from  "the  Major  General 
Commanding  the  Army"  command  of  the  Inspector 
General's  and  Adjutant  General's  departments.  They 
were  assigned  to  duty  under  the  Secretary  of  War. 
That  was  his  last  official  act. 

Then  came  Root  as  Secretary  of  War.  He  shared 
an  opinion  which  existed  all  over  the  country  that 
Alger  and  Adjutant  General  Corbin  were  leagued 
together  against  General  Miles.  It  was  true  to  the  ex 
tent  that  Corbin  knew  that  Alger  was  for  all  practical 
purposes  the  commander-in-chief ,  that  he  represented 
the  President,  and  Corbin  stood  by  the  highest  author 
ity.  Mr.  Root  carefully  felt  his  way  in  his  new  sur 
roundings.  He  knew  that  a  number  of  regiments  had 
been  authorized  and  must  be  organized  to  put  down 
the  insurrection  in  the  Philippines. 

When  General  Miles  made  his  first  call  upon  the  new 
Secretary,  Mr.  Root  expressed  the  hope  that  he  would 
have  his  assistance  in  organizing  the  new  regiments. 

"Certainly,"  replied  Miles,  "but  there  is  an  import 
ant  matter  I  want  to  take  up  with  you  at  an  early  day. 
Your  predecessor  issued  an  order  placing  the  Inspector 
General  and  the  Adjutant  General  under  the  Secretary 
of  War  and  taking  them  from  my  staff.  These  officers 
always  have  been  staff  officers  of  the  commanding 
general.  It  is  an  injustice  which  I  expect  you  will 
right." 

Root  promised  to  give  the  matter  his  attention  as 


248        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

early  as  possible.  Meanwhile  he  busied  himself  for  a  few 
days  with  other  matters  in  the  War  Department. 
Corbin  was  foxy.  He  did  not  go  near  the  Secretary  un 
less  he  was  sent  for.  Root's  private  secretary,  or  some 
other  person,  when  asked  about  something  connected 
with  the  War  Department,  would  reply: 

"General  Corbin  knows  about  that." 

And  when  Root  asked  Corbin  he  found  that  he  did 
know  about  it,  and  everything  else  pertaining  to  the 
business  in  hand.  It  was  not  long  before  Miles  again 
visited  the  Secretary,  and  Root  asked  him  about  plans 
for  the  new  regiments. 

' '  I  am  having  a  general  plan  prepared  and  will  submit 
it  to  you  in  a  few  days.  What  I  wanted  now  was  to  ask 
if  you  have  taken  up  that  matter  of  the  Inspector 
General  and  Adjutant  General  taken  from  my  command 
by  your  predecessor." 

Root  had  not  thought  of  it  since,  but  he  promised 
to  give  it  his  attention  very  soon.  After  Miles  left, 
Root  sent  for  Corbin. 

"General,"  he  said,  "General  Miles  seems  much  dis 
turbed  about  an  order  issued  by  Mr.  Alger  just  before 
he  left  office.  As  it  pertains  to  your  official  position  I 
desire  to  ask  you  about  it  before  taking  any  action. 
Can  you  explain  the  matter?  It  seems  somewhat 
technical  and  military  from  what  General  Miles  says, 
and  I  do  not  quite  understand  its  ramifications." 

"It  never  should  have  been  issued,"  bluntly  replied 
Corbin,  "and  it  should  be  revoked.  I  was  sorry 
Secretary  Alger  did  it,  and  if  I  had  known  of  it  I  should 


The  Man  of  the  Hour  249 

have  advised  against  it.  The  Adjutant  General,  the 
Inspector  General,  and  every  other  officer  in  the  Army 
is  under  the  Secretary  of  War  and  subject  to  his  orders 
as  long  as  he  acts  for  the  President.  It  makes  no  differ 
ence  whether  these  officers  are  technically  under  the 
major  general  commanding  or  not.  It's  a  mere 
form." 

An  order  of  revocation  was  immediately  signed  by 
Root  and  sent  to  Miles.  A  few  days  later  Miles  ap 
peared  with  his  plan  of  new  regiments,  providing  for 
every  officer  to  be  appointed,  and  including  two  regi 
ments  of  colored  troops  to  be  officered  by  colored  men. 
Root  was  not  then  the  politician  he  afterwards  became, 
but  he  saw  at  once  that  the  Miles  plan  would  have  to 
be  modified.  For  a  long  time  he  worked  alone  on  the 
proposed  organization.  Then  he  began  to  call  upon 
Corbin  for  information  as  to  this  officer  or  that  in  the 
regular  service,  or  the  records  of  officers  who  had 
served  in  the  state  troops  and  who  were  being  urged  by 
Senators  and  Representatives  for  commissions  in  the 
new, regiments.  He  found  that  Corbin  had  everything 
ready.  The  files  of  the  Adjutant  General's  office  were 
well  kept;  the  clerks  liked  Corbin  and  he  had  an  efficient 
corps  of  assistants. 

The  ultimate  result  was  that  for  a  day  or  two  and  late 
into  the  night  Root  and  Corbin  went  over  papers, 
records,  political  endorsements,  and  everything  else 
pertaining  to  the  regiments,  and  Root  found  himself 
possessed  not  only  of  information,  but  also  of  an  able 
assistant,  one  who  was  not  afraid  to  work,  and  who  was 


250        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

as  careless  as  to  hours  as  himself.  He  began  to  appre 
ciate  Corbin  and  like  him. 

Soon  the  regiments  were  organized,  officers  selected, 
recruits  were  enlisted,  and  all  were  made  ready  to  be 
sent  to  the  Philippines.  The  War  Department  had 
become  a  department  of  war  business.  As  far  as 
possible  everything  was  carried  on  in  a  military  manner. 
There  was  politics  and  pull,  of  course;  that  was 
inevitable.  As  in  Spanish  war  days  men  came  over 
with  little  cards  on  which  was  written : 

"See  what  you  can  do  for  bearer;  what  he  wants,  if 
possible.— W.  McK." 

Well,  what  would  you  have  done?  Every  mother's 
son  would  have  done  what  the  President  requested.  So 
did  Root  and. so  did  Corbin,  just  as  Alger  and  Corbin 
had  done  in  the  early  days  of  the  war. 

Sending  troops  and  supplies  to  the  Philippines  raised 
a  clamor  in  which  every  politician  from  the  Pacific 
Coast  took  part.  San  Francisco  was,  of  course,  the 
most  available  point  of  shipment  for  men  and  supplies. 
But  that  did  not  satisfy  Portland,  Seattle  and  Tacoma. 
The  Columbia  River  and  Puget  Sound  ports  had  to  have 
their  share  of  the  shipments.  Think  of  what  a  trifling 
matter  it  was!  The  troops  were  at  the  ports  a  few 
weeks  or  days  and  spent  their  money;  the  merchants 
sold  supplies  and  received  a  certain  amount  of  money. 
The  places  became  known  as  ports  for  the  Philippines. 
At  San  Francisco  was  a  large  military  station,  plenty  of 
land  and  quarters,  warehouses  and  everything  handy 
for  sending  men  and  munitions  and  supplies  to  the 


The  Man  of  the  Hour  251 

Philippines.  But  the  business  men  of  the  northern 
ports  made  their  Senators  and  Representatives  fight  for 
a  share  of  the  traffic.  And  how  those  Senators  and 
members  did  fight !  What  is  more,  they  got  results.  If 
the  War  Department  had  refused  they  would  have  gone 
to  McKinley,  and  in  some  instances  they  did. 

"The  difference  in  cost  and  in  time  is  not  worth 
making  those  delegations  sore,"  Corbin  told  Root. 
"We  shall  want  their  help  in  Congress  when  we  are 
trying  to  get  something  for  the  Army." 

And  right  there  is  something  to  think  about  in  regard 
to  Army  legislation.  It  has  some  elements  of  give  and 
take.  The  master  politician  in  the  Army  is  always 
making  friends,  and  they  are  on  hand  when  needed. 
There  ought  not  to  be  politics  in  a  great  military 
organization  which  is  supported  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
defending  the  country  and  upholding  its  honor  and  the 
flag,  but  if  you  go  through  the  darkest  hours  of  the 
country's  history  you  will  find  that  always  some  are 
working  the  political  end  of  the  game  and  others  work 
ing  the  financial  end  without  regard  to  the  peril  of  the 
nation. 

Henry  C.  Corbin  was  the  most  important  officer  and 
did  more  to  make  the  war  with  Spain  a  success  than  any 
other  one  man.  He  was  one  of  the  most  efficient  men 
that  ever  held  the  position  of  Adjutant  General.  He 
transacted  more  business  than  any  other  man.  And 
while  he  transacted  this  business  there  was  never  any 
guard  at  his  door;  no  card  of  admission  was  necessary; 
no  messenger  barred  the  way  to  his  office.  He  sat 


252        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

right  in  front  of  the  door  meeting  every  one  who  had 
any  business  with  him.  I  have  seen  Justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  Senators,  Representatives,  general  and 
staff  officers,  newspapermen,  strangers,  private  soldiers, 
in  his  office  at  the  same  time,  coming  and  going.  Some^ 
times  there  would  be  a  dozen  or  more  at  a  time,  high 
and  low,  rich  and  poor,  and  everybody  would  get  a 
hearing.  Once  I  saw  high  officials'  wait  while  Corbiii 
went  to  a  private  soldier  on  crutches— he  had  lost  a  leg  at 
Santiago — and  ascertain' his  wants  before  Senators  and 
officers  were  served.  ;He  found  the  man  wanted  to  go 
to  the  Soldiers'  Home,  and  He  made  arrangements  to1  have 
him  sent  there  before  other  men's  affairs  Were  considered. 

General  Corbin's  integrity  as  an  officer  was  unques 
tioned.  Like  all  forceful  people  he  made  enemies,  but  he 
could  not  be  accused  of  dishonesty.  He  occupied  a  po 
sition  in  which  he  had  an  opportunity  to  make  money, 
but  he  was  not  lured  into  anything  in  which  there  could 
be  a  question  as  to  his  honor  as  an  officer.  Once  a 
man  offered  to  carry  him  for  an  investment  in  several 
thousand  shares  of  a  stock  that  would  net  him  large 
profits.  Corbin  declined  the  offer. 

"There  is  one  man  I  must  live  with/'  he  told  me, 
"and  I  intend  he  shall  be  honest;  that  he  will  not  feel 
ashamed  to  look  me  in  the  face  in  the  morning  or  afraid 
to  sleep  with  me  at  night.  I  need  more  money  as  much 
as  any  man  in  my  position  could,  but  I'm  not  going  to 
try  to  make  it  by  any  such  means  as  offered  in  this 
case.  You  never  can  tell  what  demands  might  follow  a 
favor  of  that  kind." 


The  Man  of  the  Hour  253 

Corbin  was  the  kind  of  man  who  does  things.  He 
never  allowed  business  to  accumulate.  Those  matters 
which  were  for  him  to  decide  he  decided  instantly. 
"Action  is  necessary;  we  can't  spend  time  figuring  how 
these  things  should  be  done ;  we  must  do  them  or  order 
others  to  do  them."  Thus  he  spoke  one  day,  adding 
that,  of  course,  he  made  mistakes,  but  that  it  was  better 
to  make  mistakes  than  to  have  business  clog  the  wheels. 
A  man  like  that  naturally  became  extremely  valuable 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  President.  Being  a 
born  politician  and  knowing  politicians,  he  was  able 
to  see  that  the  war  would  be  carried  along  on  political 
lines  and  not  on  strict  military  lines. 

There  was  no  politics  in  the  selection  of  Elihu  Root 
as  Secretary  of  War  to  succeed  Secretary  Alger.  It  was 
not  a  popular  political  appointment,  as  Root  was  not 
much  of  a  politician.  It  was  very  fortunate  for  Mc- 
Kinley  that  he  was  able  to  secure  such  a  man  as  Root 
for  that  particular  place  at  the  time.  The  problems 
of  the  Spanish  war  were  weighing  heavily  upon  the 
Administration.  Spain  had  been  driven  out  of  Cuba 
and  we  had  completed  all  that  we  declared  in  the  war 
resolution.  Had  we  been  true  to  that  declaration,  our 
troops  would  have  evacuated  Cuba  and  left  her  free, 
but  it  would  have  meant  chaos  in  the  island.  While  the 
administration  of  Cuba  was  difficult,  it  was  not  so 
complicated  as  in  the  Philippines,  where  an  insurrection 
had  to  be  suppressed  and  a  government  established. 
A  man  for  the  task  was  needed  by  the  American  Govern 
ment  and  he  was  found. 


254        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Elihu  Root  was  at  first  regarded  as  a  cold-blooded 
New  York  lawyer,  exclusive  in  his  tastes,  distrustful 
and  reticent.  His  experience  with  newspaper  men 
had  not  been  such  as  to  commend  them  to  him.  He 
never  had  considered  publicity  as  a  necessity  in  business 
affairs,  and  he  was  inclined  to  consider  government  on 
the  same  basis  as  business.  The  impression  prevailed 
generally  long  after  he  was  Secretary  of  War  that  he  was 
cold  and  austere;  a  highly  efficient  mental  machine. 
In  after  years  those  who  were  privileged  to  know  him 
well  learned  to  appreciate  his  great  ability,  which  was 
coupled  with  a  keen  sense  of  humor. 

Mr.  Root  modified  his  idea  of  newspaper  men  after 
his  experience  in  Washington.  One  day  at  a  luncheon 
given  to  Army  officers,  Senators  and  Representatives, 
and  newspaper  correspondents  who  were  all  his  personal 
friends,  he  spoke  of  the  press  in  a  strain  most  surprising. 
"The  newspapers  are  very  valuable  to  any  adminis 
tration,"  he  said.  "Criticism  is  wholesome.  If  it  is 
deserved,  it  is  right ;  if  undeserved,  the  officials  criticized 
can  well  afford  to  wait  to  be  vindicated  by  time.  But 
comments  and  criticisms  in  the  press  are  valuable  in 
pointing  out  what  might  be  a  false  step  and  showing  the 
trend  of  thought  and  ideas  of  the  people.  I  have  often 
been  saved  from  doing  something  that  would  have  been 
unwise  by  criticism  of  the  act  before  it  was  performed 
and  while  in  contemplation.  Criticisms,  even  when 
they  are  wrong  and  unjust,  are  helpful,  for  they  show 
one  that  he  is  right  and  give  him  information  which 
aids  him  in  continuing  his  policy." 


The  Man  of  the  Hour  255 

Secretary  Root  was  a  believer  in  picked  men.  He 
never  hesitated  about  going  down  among  the  captains 
and  majors  to  get  general  officers  if  he  thought  they 
would  make  the  best  officers.  In  pursuance  of  this  idea 
a  captain,  John  J.  Pershing,  was  jumped  over  1200  offi 
cers  and  made  a  brigadier  general. 

It  was  during  Root's  term  as  Secretary  of  War  that 
Charles  E.  Magoon  earned  his  title  of  "Judge." 
Magoon  was  law  officer  of  the  bureau  of  insular  af 
fairs,  and  Root  requested  an  opinion  upon  the  rights 
of  the  United  States  in  the  islands  acquired  from  Spain. 
Magoon  wrote  an  opinion  and  Root  thought  it  was 
a  good  one,  but  it  was  not  on  the  side  he  wanted.  It 
limited  the  power  of  the  United  States  too  much  to 
suit  the  purpose  Root  had  in  mind.  Magoon  wrote 
another  opinion,  better  than  the  first,  and  showed  that 
the  United  States  had  ample  power  in  dealing  with  and 
governing  the  new  possessions.  It  is  an  interesting 
fact  that  in  the  five-to-four  opinions  of  the  Supreme 
Court  in  the  insular  cases  the  minority  followed  closely 
the  first  opinion  of  Magoon,  and  the  majority  the  second 
opinion  of  the  same  authority. 

Governing  the  Philippines  by  one  man  power  was  the 
task  which  came  to  Root  when  the  insurrection  was 
partially  subdued.  It  was  about  that  time  that 
McKinley  took  William  H.  Taft  from  the  bench,  an 
occupation  he  liked,  and  sent  him  as  Governor-General 
of  the  Philippines,  a  work  which  he  did  not  want.  One 
of  the  great  state  papers  of  that  time  was  McKinley 's 
letter  of  instruction  to  the  Philippine  Commission. 


256        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Secretary  Root  gave  it  his  most  careful  attention  in 
preparation.  He  has  written  many  papers  of 
importance,  but  none  equal  to  that,  the  time  and 
circumstances  considered.  That  letter  of  instructions 
contained  the  germ  of  all  future  government  and 
advancement  of  the  Philippines  as  well  as  suggestions 
for  future  legislation. 

The  power  of  the  Secretary  of  War  in  the  new 
possessions  was  unlimited.  His  brief  cable  was  law; 
his  verbal  utterance  to  an  Army  officer  about  to  take 
charge  of  a  province  or  an  island  was  as  binding  as  a 
sealed  and  signed  decree.  Through  the  governors- 
general  or  the  military  commanders  the  Secretary  was 
the  legislature,  the  executive,  and  the  judiciary  for  the 
millions  of  people  in  the  Philippines  and  in  Cuba. 

"I  am  getting  used  to  it  now,"  remarked  Secretary 
Root  one  day,  as  he  signed  a  very  important  cable 
message  which  related  to  the  Philippines,  "but  at  first 
it  rather  shocked  my  ideas  of  legal  and  orderly 
procedure  to  legislate  for  millions  of  people,  by  an 
executive  order.  Now  I  can  sign  my  name  to  a  decree 
which  makes  laws  for  ten  millions  of  people  without  the 
slightest  tremor." 

Root  was  still  Secretary  when  the  famous  insular 
cases  were  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court.  The 
legislation  had  caused  a  very  great  deal  of  discussion 
about  extension  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  over 
the  islands.  The  burning  question  was  whether  the 
Constitution  followed  the  flag  ex  proprio  vigore,  as  the 
lawyers  put  it.  Secretary  Root  was  in  court  and 


The  Man  of  the  Hour  257 

listened  to  the  decisions  when  rendered.  He  went  to 
the  War  Department  soon  after,  and  was  followed  by 
a  score  of  newspaper  men  who  were  trying  to  find  out 
what  the  decision  meant. 

"What  we  want  to  know,  Mr.  Secretary,"  said  a 
spokesman,  "is  whether  the  Constitution  follows  the 
flag." 

"Ye-es,"  replied  the  Secretary,  in  the  halting  speech 
which  made  his  wit  so  effective ;  "  as  near  as  I  can  make 
out  the  Constitution  follows  the  flag — but  doesn't  quite 
catch  up  with  it." 

And  that  was  so  true. 

"He  has  no  more  idea  of  time  than  an  Indian,"  said 
General  Corbin,  of  the  Secretary,  who  never  knew  when 
the  luncheon  hour  arrived,  and  when  interested  in  a 
piece  of  work  would  not  think  of  dinner  until  perhaps 
eight  or  nine  o'clock  at  night. 

Before  Root's  retirement  as  Secretary  of  War 
President  Roosevelt  paid  him  the  highest  kind  of 
compliment.  "I  have,"  he  said,  "in  John  Hay  the 
best  Secretary  of  State;  and  I  have  in  Knox  the  best 
Attorney  General.  But  Mr.  Root  could  fill  both  of 
these  positions  with  the  same  success  he  has  achieved 
as  Secretary  of  War." 

Mr.  Root  is  oftentimes  described  as  the  greatest 
intellect  of  his  time.  I  fully  agree  with  that  view.  He 
is  the  greatest  man  I  have  known  in  the  period  of  which 
I  write.  There  have  been  some  very  brainy  men  in 
public  life  in  that  time,  men  of  great  sagacity  and 
patriotism,  but  none  who  was  the  equal  of  Elihu 

VOL.  I — I? 


258        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Root  as  a  statesman  and  profound  student  of  public 
affairs. 

There  was  nothing  childish  or  petty  about  Mr.  Root. 
He  never  exhibited  jealousy  of  his  fellow  men,  nor  did  he 
ever  descend  to  spite  work.  He  totally  lacked  those 
petty  traits  that  often  mar  the  characters  of  our  greatest 
statesmen.  He  had  a  command  of  language  and  could 
shatter  an  opponent  with  logic,  but  never  with  malice. 
His  humor  was  delicious,  and  the  delicate  manner  in  which 
he  could  turn  a  point  against  an  adversary  was  charming. 

An  interesting  figure  of  the  Spanish  war  was  Colonel 
John  F.  Weston,  later  a  major  general.  He  was  chief 
commissary  of  the  expedition  to  Cuba.  Weston  was 
one  of  the  most  popular  officers  that  ever  wore  the 
uniform.  En  route  to  Cuba  a  pair  of  white  duck 
trousers  belonging  to  Weston  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
artists  and  cartoonists  who  accompanied  the  expedi 
tion  to  Santiago.  They  decorated  these  trousers  with 
cock-fights,  lions'  heads,  bears,  and  other  beasts,  as 
well  as  birds  and  flowers.  There  was  little  of  the 
original  surface  which  did  not  show  the  interest  and 
liking  of  the  artists  for  Jack  Weston. 

One  day  Weston  had  been  working  hard  all  day 
getting  supplies  from  one  of  the  transport  ships  to  the 
shore.  Late  in  the  evening  he  returned  to  the  ship  in  a 
boat.  A  considerable  sea  was  running  and  it  was  with 
some  difficulty  that  the  boat  was  brought  up  to  the 
gangway  so  that  Weston  could  go  aboard.  The  civilian 
captain  of  the  ship  looked  over  the  side  and  shouted 
in  a  sarcastic  tone : 


The  Man  of  the  Hour  259 

"What's  the  matter  with  you?  Do  you  want  me  to 
come  down  and  carry  you  aboard?" 

"I'll  save  you  that  trouble,"  replied  Weston,  in  a  tone 
which  meant  business. 

In  a  moment  he  came  overside  wearing  the  illustrated 
duck  trousers.  As  he  reached  the  deck  he  tossed  off 
the  jacket  which  bore  the  eagles  of  his  rank,  and  danced 
over  to  the  captain  of  the  ship.  There  was  no  man  of 
that  time  in  the  army  as  light  upon  his  feet  or  as 
handy  with  boxing  gloves  as  Colonel  Weston.  There 
was  nothing  he  liked  better  than  a  go  with  the  gloves. 

"I  want  to  show  you  that  I  did  not  need  your  assist 
ance,"  said  Weston,  as  he  came  within  reach  of  the 
captain,  and  he  landed  a  left  and  right,  one  on  the  jaw 
and  the  other  on  the  neck,  which  sent  the  civilian 
seaman  to  his  deck.  When  he  groggily  regained  his  feet 
Weston  was  dancing  around  him  saying  : 

"If  you  think  I  am  not  able  to  care  for  myself,  come 


on." 


But  the  captain  had  enough. 

"Jack  Weston!"  shouted  bluff  Captain  Wise  of  the 
Navy,  who  happened  to  be  aboard  and  saw  the  encoun 
ter,  "with  your  beasts,  birds  and  reptiles,  just  as  you 
are,  you  suit  me.  Come  to  my  room  and  let's 
celebrate." 

The  Philippine  insurrection  developed  a  man,  Gen 
eral  Elwell  S.  Otis.  I  know  that  members  of  my  own 
profession  disliked  and  wrote  against  him,  but  the 
censorship  he  observed  and  the  rigid  rules  he  made  were 
as  nothing  compared  to  the  severity  against  the  press 


26o        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

in  the  Japanese-Russian  war  and  in  the  great  war  in 
Europe.  It  seems  a  pity  that  the  most  efficient  officer 
of  the  Spanish  war  and  Philippine  insurrection  could 
not  have  had  as  much  honor  as  half  a  dozen  others  who 
became  lieutenant  generals.  The  whole  country  owes 
a  debt  of  gratitude  to  General  Otis  for  eliminating 
graft  in  connection  with  the  occupation,  and  instituting 
government  on  such  a  high  plane  that  no  one  has 
departed  from  it,  save  in  a  few  unimportant  and 
isolated  cases. 

The  name  of  El  well  S.  Otis  should  be  honored  because 
he  preserved  the  honor  of  America  in  a  far  off  country 
and  added  luster  to  the  name  of  the  American  soldier. 
Living  up  to  Otis  has  been  the  ambition  of  every  officer 
who  has  since  set  foot  in  the  Philippines.  In  that 
tropical  land  of  to-morrow,  of  careless  custom  and  ease ; 
the  land  touched  by  the  sun  of  the  Orient  in  which 
trickery,  knavery  and  all  forms  of  mental  distemper 
thrive ;  where  every  man  had  been  accustomed  to  pay  the 
bribe  to  every  official;  in  such  a  land  it  is  not  an  easy 
task  to  keep  a  great  military  and  civil  government  free 
from  corruption  and  graft.  He  was  called  fussy  and 
devoted  to  details,  but  a  part  of  the  fuss  and  devotion 
to  details  was  to  preserve  the  honor  and  integrity  of  the 
American  nation  and  of  the  Army  in  its  administration 
of  a  far  distant  possession. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  WAR 

Most  Active  and  Picturesque  Personage  in  the  Clash  with  Spain — 
"Saddled  on  John  D.  Long  " — Carries  Out  Design  to  Be  in  First 
Fight — Free  with  Advice  to  Superiors — Spanish  War  Makes  Re 
publican  Success  Possible — Roosevelt  Elected  Governor  of  New 
York — Funston  Kept  in  the  Army — Dewey  the  Naval  Hero,  but 
the  Presidency  is  Not  for  a  Navy  Man — How  Leonard  Wood  Be 
came  a  Brigadier  General — "A  Bell  That  Rings  Every  Day" 
Made  Another. 

HTHEODORE  ROOSEVELT  wanted  war  from  the 
very  beginning.  When  he  came  to  Washington  as 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  he  was  still  the  junior 
member  of  the  firm  of  Lodge  and  Roosevelt.  The  then 
senior  member  had  a  reputation  as  a  twister  of  the 
lion's  tail,  and  particularly  had  he  been  insistent  upon 
doing  something  for  Cuba  during  the  Cleveland 
administration.  Lodge  was  of  a  practical  mind  and 
could  give  expression  to  his  energies  in  the  direction 
of  free  Cuba  in  speeches.  Roosevelt  wanted  action  and 
wanted  it  without  delay. 

"This  is  going  to  be  a  short  war,"  he  confided  to  a 
friend,  when  it  was  known  that  war  was  sure  to  come. 
"I  am  going  into  it  and  get  all  there  is  out  of  it. 
Because  it  will  be  so  short  only  a  few  men  will  be  able  to 
gain  any  military  reputation.  I  am  going  with  the  first 
expedition,  which  will  probably  be  the  last.  I  am  going 

261 


262        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

to  get  ashore  with  my  troops,  get  into  the  first  fight,  and 
keep  going  until  it  is  over." 

At  that  time  he  outlined  his  definite  plan  of  a 
regiment  of  rough  riders  to  be  commanded  by  his 
personal  friend  the  White  House  physician,  and  while  he 
would  be  lieutenant  colonel  and  second  in  command, 
he  knew  he  would  be  the  important  personage  in  the 
regiment.  Before  the  hostilities  began  this  sounded 
like  the  boasting  of  a  man  who  let  his  imagination  run 
away  with  his  discretion,  but  Theodore  Roosevelt  knew 
what  he  was  saying. 

As  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  he  was  a  thorn 
in  the  side  of  the  Administration.  In  fact  it  was 
the  role  of  Roosevelt  to  be  troublesome  to  all  ad 
ministrations.  As  Civil  Service  Commissioner  he  kept 
Harrison  in  hot  water  over  the  prosecution  of  Re 
publican  officials  who  violated  the  law,  and  the  same 
was  true  during  Cleveland's  administration,  although 
Cleveland  did  not  care  so  much  about  the  prosecutions 
as  he  did  about  the  rows  in  the  commission  and  the 
notoriety  it  caused.  As  Police  Commissioner  of  New 
York,  Roosevelt  stirred  up  things  so  energetically  as  to 
create  a  desire  among  politicians  to  get  rid  of  him. 
Senator  Platt  wanted  Roosevelt  out  of  New  York  and 
Senator  Lodge  was  anxious  to  have  his  friend  given 
a  place  in  the  new  administration.  The  amiable 
President  was  willing  to  gratify  Platt  and  Lodge,  and 
Roosevelt  was  "saddled  on  John  D.  Long,"  as  some  one 
remarked,  Mr.  Long  being  the  most  easy  going 
member  of  the  Cabinet.  It  turned  out  that  Roosevelt 


Roosevelt  in  the  War  263 

was  able  to  stir  up  more  trouble  as  Assistant  Secretary 
than  in  any  other  position,  for  he  was  bound  to  get 
the  Navy  into  some  sort  of  readiness  for  emergencies. 
Besides,  he  never  hesitated  to  take  responsibility. 

It  was  during  the  early  stages  of  his  service 
in  the  Navy  Department  that  he  renewed  intimate 
acquaintance  with  Leonard  Wood,  a  surgeon  in  the 
Army  with  the  rank  of  captain,  who  was  the  physician 
attending  Mrs.  McKinley,  and  who  had  the  esteem 
and  confidence  of  the  President.  At  the  time  the  firm 
of  Wood  and  Roosevelt  was  formed  Roosevelt  was 
again  a  junior  member,  but  the  time  came  when  he  was 
senior  in  all  partnerships. 

At  the  White  House  Roosevelt  was  considered 
something  of  a  joke,  but  why  is  not  clear.  Here  was  a 
young  man  who  had  been  in  public  life  since  1880,  had 
been  a  factor  in  the  Elaine  campaign  of  1884,  a  delegate 
to  national  conventions,  eight  years  Civil  Service 
Commissioner,  Police  Commissioner  in  New  York,  an 
author  of  some  note,  and  vigorous  physically  and 
intellectually.  One  day  when  the  war  was  in  sight 
there  was  a  Cabinet  meeting.  During  its  progress  a 
dispatch  of  importance  was  received  at  the  Navy 
Department  and  Roosevelt  thought  it  should  be  given 
to  the  President.  He  took  it  over  and  awaited 
instructions  as  to  the  reply.  Secretary  Cortelyou  took 
the  message  into  the  Cabinet  room  and  told  the 
President  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  brought  it  over. 

"Where  is  he?"  asked  the  President. 

"Down  stairs,"  replied  Cortelyou. 


264        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

"Shall  we  have  him  up  and  have  a  little  fun  with 
him?"  asked  McKinley,  turning  to  members  of  the 
Cabinet. 

Of  course  there  was  unanimous  assent. 

"Mr.  Roosevelt,"  said  the  President,  when  the 
Assistant  Secretary  entered,  "this  dispatch  corroborates 
other  information  we  have  that  a  fleet  of  Spanish  ships 
has  sailed  from  Spain,  probably  to  make  an  attack  upon 
our  coast.  What  would  you  advise  under  the 
circumstances?" 

"I  would  send  out.  a  fleet  and  smash  them!"  said 
Roosevelt,  displaying  his  teeth. 

And  then  McKinley  and  his  wise  men  discovered  that 
this  was  not  an  individual  to  have  fun  with  over  a  grave 
question. 

The  energy  of  Roosevelt  at  that  time  was  unbounded. 
He  was  writing  his  history  of  the  Winning  of  the  West 
and  doing  other  literary  work.  He  was  interesting 
himself  in  putting  the  Navy  into  readiness  for  war.  He 
was  organizing  and  equipping  the  Rough  Riders.  And, 
by  the  way,  from  the  very  beginning  this  was  known 
as  Roosevelt's  regiment.  It  was  always  so  designated, 
sometimes  with  the  explanatory  remark  that  Wood  was 
the  colonel.  Roosevelt  was  taking  a  hand  also  in  the 
selection  of  officers  for  various  commands  in  the  Navy. 
He  had  much  to  do  with  making  Captain  Sampson 
Acting  Rear  Admiral  and  giving  him  command  of  the 
Atlantic  fleet. 

When  Roosevelt  relinquished  his  place  as  Assistant 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  there  was  a  sigh  of  relief  in 


Roosevelt  in  the  War  265 

Administration  circles,  but  he  never  allowed  the  officials 
much  rest.  He  knew  a  great  deal  about  what  was  going 
on,  and  he  soon  detected  the  fact  that  the  expedition  to 
Santiago  would  be  the  first  of  the  Army  operations.  With 
the  cooperation  of  Colonel  Wood  he  pushed  his  regi 
ment  forward  so  that  it  might  go  with  the  first  ships  that 
sailed.  How  they  took  possession  of  a  ship  which  had 
been  assigned  to  a  regular  regiment  is  a  matter  of 
history,  as  is  also  the  manner  in  which  the  First 
Volunteer  Cavalry  was  disembarked  and  participated 
in  the  first  fight  with  the  Spaniards,  just  as  Roosevelt 
had  intended  from  the  beginning. 

He  did  not  escape  without  criticism  in  military  circles 
and  elsewhere,  but  the  Administration  never  felt  that 
it  was  good  policy  to  bring  under  strict  military 
discipline  a  man  who  was  doing  things,  who  was  pushing 
to  the  front  in  a  war  for  which  there  had  been  such  a 
clamor  in  the  country.  Considerable  fun  was  made  of 
Roosevelt  on  account  of  the  literary  men  who  ac 
companied  him  and  exploited  him  in  the  newspapers 
and  magazines  they  represented,  but  the  most  severe 
criticism  published  was  that  in  a  little  book  by  Burr 
Mclntosh,  the  actor,  entitled  The  Little  I  Saw  of  Cuba. 
He  was  among  those  who  landed  with  the  first  military 
expedition,  and  he  said  that  the  fight  at  Las  Guasimas 
was  unnecessary,  further  intimating  that  the  Rough 
Riders,  in  disobedience  of  orders  as  to  their  posi 
tion,  pushed  forward  and  were  ambushed  by  the 
Spaniards. 

By  the  way,  they  were  not  riders  in  Cuba.    The 


266        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

cavalry,  although  there  was  a  cavalry  division,  had  no 
mounts  because  there  were  no  ships  available  to 
transport  horses. 

But  suppose  Roosevelt's  activities  were  open  to 
military  criticism — and  many  critics  were  found  in 
military  circles — the  country  did  not  care  so  long  as  he 
was  doing  something.  The  man  who  is  accomplishing 
results;  defeating  the  enemy;  risking  life  and  limb  for 
country;  is  energetic,  pushing  and  earnest,  will  win  the 
plaudits  of  the  public. 

One  thing  stands  out  with  remarkable  clearness. 
Theodore  Roosevelt  showed  in  the  choice  of  the  colonel 
of  his  regiment  that  wonderful  judgment  of  human 
nature  that  so  often  worked  to  his  advantage.  Col 
onel  Wood  was  a  man  of  intelligence  and  pleasing 
personality.  He  was  a  particular  favorite  with 
President  McKinley.  Although  the  regiment  was 
known  as  "Roosevelt's  Rough  Riders"  it  was  listed  as 
the  First  U.  S.  Volunteer  Cavalry,  Leonard  Wood 
commanding,  and  anything  that  the  President's  favorite 
wanted  was  sure  to  be  granted  by  the  War  Department. 
Generals  and  other  superior  officers  were  not  going  to 
make  official  criticism  of  a  regiment  commanded  by  the 
President's  personal  friend.  All  requisitions  for  the 
Rough  Riders  ran  in  the  name  of  Colonel  Wood.  All 
orders  moving  the  regiment,  such  as  taking  possession 
of  the  transport,  disembarking,  and  the  movement 
resulting  in  the  battle  at  Las  Guasimas,  were  issued 
by  Colonel  Wood.  But  in  the  public  mind  and  in  the 
press  reports  Wood  was  less  known.  Everybody 


Roosevelt  in  the  War  267 

seemed  to  think  that  Roosevelt  was  the  moving  spirit 
in  the  Rough  Riders. 

In  this  connection  is  the  incident  of  the  "Round 
Robin"  protesting  against  the  keeping  of  troops  at 
Santiago  where  they  were  sick  and  dying  with  fever. 
It  is  generally  supposed  that  Roosevelt  inspired  the 
document.  He  was  the  only  colonel  to  sign  it,  and  he 
was  the  junior  of  many  others  in  the  Army.  He  had 
become  colonel  by  the  promotion  of  Wood  to  be  a 
brigadier  general  of  volunteers,  a  promotion  that 
showed  that  McKinley  kept  his  friend  in  mind  when 
passing  out  honors  after  the  Santiago  campaign.  In 
other  countries,  and  even  in  the  Civil  War  days,  that 
"Round  Robin  "  would  have  resulted  in  courts  martial, 
but  not  in  the  happy-go-lucky  days  of  the  Spanish  war. 

There  happened  at  Santiago,  in  connection  with  the 
Rough  Riders,  another  incident  which  had  an  echo  in 
after  days  when  Roosevelt  was  President.  As  colonel 
of  the  regiment,  Roosevelt  made  an  effort  to  get  some 
thing  from  the  quartermaster's  department.  Colonel 
Charles  F.  Humphrey  was  chief  quartermaster  of  the 
Cuban  expedition.  He  was  a  positive  character,  busi 
ness  all  the  way  through,  without  much  use  for  volun 
teers,  and  he  turned  down  Roosevelt  in  a  manner  both 
vigorous  and  extreme. 

"If  I  had  been  Roosevelt,"  said  an  officer  who  was 
of  equal  rank  with  Humphrey,  and  who  witnessed  the 
affair,  "I  would  have  punched  Charlie  Humphrey's 
head  so  far  back  on  his  shoulders  that  it  wouldn't  have 
come  forward  in  a  week.  Roosevelt  looked  for  a 


268        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

moment  as  if  he  would  do  it,  but  his  better  judgment 
prevailed  and  he  went  away." 

Roosevelt  knew  better  than  to  make  a  scene 
and  create  a  row  when  the  technicalities,  at  least, 
would  all  have  been  on  the  side  of  the  chief  quarter 
master. 

Humphrey  came  up  for  promotion  as  head  of  the 
quartermaster's  department  when  Roosevelt  was  Pres 
ident.  It  was  the  most  bitter  pill  he  had  to  swallow 
during  his  term.  All  the  possible  political  influence  in 
the  country  was  brought  to  bear  on  the  President,  and 
Humphrey  had  the  best  pull  in  the  Army  at  that 
time,  with  the  exception  of  General  Ainsworth,  and 
Ains worth  was  pulling  for  him. 

When  Roosevelt  decided  to  appoint  Humphrey  he 
gave  me  this  explanation  of  his  position : 

"I  am  not  going  to  allow  people  to  say  that  I  have 
refused  to  promote  a  good  officer  on  account  of  my 
personal  feeling,  although  his  conduct  towards  me  in 
Cuba  was  sufficient  to  warrant  me  in  refusing  to  pro 
mote  him.  If  it  had  been  another  officer  in  my  place 
at  that  time,  I  would  never  sign  his  commission.'' 

Colonel  Roosevelt  when  in  Cuba  did  not  hesitate  to 
give  the  War  Department  advice.  It  was  this  newly 
made  colonel  who  wrote  the  Department,  when  prep 
arations  were  being  made  for  the  Porto  Rican  expedi 
tion,  asking  that  the  cavalry  division,  including  the 
Rough  Riders,  be  sent  from  Santiago  to  Porto  Rico, 
adding  that  this  force  of  four  thousand  men  "  would  be 
worth  easily  any  ten  thousand  national  guardsmen 


Roosevelt  in  the  War  269 

armed  with  black  powder  Springfields  and  other  archaic 
weapons." 

As  the  "Round  Robin*'  had  been  made  public,  and 
also  an  independent  letter  of  Roosevelt  to  Shafter,  freely 
tendering  the  commanding  general  advice  as  to  what 
should  be  done,  Secretary  Alger  made  public  the  follow 
ing  cable  reply  which  he  sent : 

"Your  letter  is  received.  The  regular  army,  the 
volunteer  army,  and  the  Rough  Riders  have  done  wrell, 
but  I  suggest  that,  unless  you  want  to  spoil  the  effects 
and  glory  of  your  victory,  you  make  no  invidious 
comparisons.  The  Rough  Riders  are  no  better  than 
any  other  volunteers.  They  had  an  advantage  in  their 
arms,  for  which  they  should  be  very  grateful." 

As  Roosevelt  had  been  responsible  for  the  "advan 
tage  in  their  arms,"  that  part  of  the  sharp  rebuke  did 
not  apply  to  him.  He  smarted  under  it,  but  said  noth 
ing.  Years  after  when  he  was  President  he  had  to  face 
the  question  of  whether  he  would  punish  General  Corbin 
for  that  sharp  cable,  for  it  was  supposed  that  Corbin 
wrote  it.  If  he  had  been  certain  that  Corbin  was  respon 
sible,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  he  would  have 
appointed  him  a  lieutenant  general.  But  McKinley  had 
promised  Corbin  that  promotion  and  Roosevelt  carried 
out  many  such  promises  of  his  predecessor. 

One  effect  of  the  Spanish  war  was  to  insure  Republi 
can  success  in  the  election  of  1898.  It  has  been  a  politi 
cal  proverb  that  a  party  in  power  which  passes  a  tariff 
bill  is  doomed  to  defeat  at  the  ensuing  election.  But 
the  prediction  of  James  Hamilton  Lewis  came  true. 


270        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

The  war  saved  the  Republicans  from  defeat  after  they 
had  passed  their  tariff  of  1897.  It  was  in  vain  that 
Champ  Clark  declared,  "It  is  our  war.  We  had  to 
take  you  Republicans  by  the  scruff  of  the  neck  and 
drag  you  into  it.*' 

The  people  would  not  believe  Champ  or  anyone 
else.  It  was  the  Republicans'  war,  because  they  were 
in  control  of  the  Government. 

Most  important  of  all  "gunpowder  men"  in  1898  was 
Theodore  Roosevelt.  His  dramatic  war  record  of  a  few 
months  made  him  Governor  of  New  York,  and  that  was 
a  stepping  stone  to  future  advancement.  I  remember, 
when  the  returns  were  coming  into  Washington  on  the 
night  of  the  election,  sitting  with  L.  Q.  C.  Washington,  a 
veteran  newspaper  man  and  dyed-in-the-wool  Demo 
crat. 

"Gunpowder  man,"  he  sniffed,  when  the  returns 
indicated  that  Roosevelt  would  be  elected  by  a  small 
majority.  And  Washington  knew,  for  he  had  experi 
ence  in  politics  following  the  Civil  War. 

At  a  later  hour  it  was  announced  that  John  Lind, 
a  Democrat,  had  been  elected  Governor  of  Republican 
Minnesota.  "Another  gunpowder  man,"  said  Wash 
ington,  and  it  did  appear  upon  looking  up  the 
Minnesota  record  that  Lind  had  served  as  a  quarter 
master  in  one  of  the  Minnesota  regiments  that  was  in 
camp  in  one  of  the  southern  states.  But  it  was  not 
Lind's  Spanish  war  record  that  made  him  Governor, 
though  it  helped.  Lind  had  the  race  issue  with  him. 
He  was  a  Scandinavian,  and  that  race  casts  more  than 


Roosevelt  in  the  War  271 

one-third  of  the  votes  in  Minnesota.  He  had  been  a 
Republican  before  1896,  bolted  after  the  gold  plank  had 
been  adopted  at  St.  Louis,  and  after  wandering  a  few 
months  as  a  silver  Republican  landed  squarely  in  the 
Democratic  party.  At  a  later  period  he  was  trusted 
with  a  most  important  mission  in  the  first  Democratic 
administration  which  came  into  power  in  sixteen  years. 

Many  men  who  served  in  the  Spanish  war  were 
subsequently  honored  in  politics,  but  not  so  much  on 
account  of  their  records  in  that  conflict  as  upon  their 
merits.  There  was  room  for  only  a  very  few  political 
heroes  as  a  result  of  that  war.  The  chances  were  more 
favorable  for  military  heroes  in  military  life,  and  promo 
tions  were  much  more  attractive  than  a  try  in  politics. 

There  was  one  military  hero  of  the  Spanish  war,  and 
particularly  of  the  Philippine  insurrection,  who  figured 
largely  in  politics  and  received  his  reward  on  account  of 
politics — at  least  to  some  extent.  Frederick  Funston, 
who  went  to  the  Philippines  at  the  head  of  a  Kansas 
regiment,  was  soon  made  a  brigadier  general  of  volun 
teers.  It  was  while  holding  this  position  that  he  cap 
tured  Aguinaldo  and  the  country  rang  with  the  exploit. 
Then  began  talk  of  his  reward.  The  only  place  for  him 
in  the  regular  army  was  brigadier  general. 

" Brigadier  general!"  roared  Corbin  when  it  was 
brought  up  to  him.  "Why,  Funston's  done  a  mighty 
good  piece  of  scouting  duty,  and  if  there  was  a  captain's 
place  for  him  in  the  regular  army  he  ought  to  have  it, 
but  as  to  making  him  brigadier  general,  why,  it's 
ridiculous." 


272         From  Harrison  to  Harding 

But  Corbin  did  not  know  all  about  politics,  especially 
politics  in  Kansas.  Leaders  in  the  Sunflower  state  had 
the  situation  well  arranged,  and  they  bore  down  on 
McKinley  and  Mark  Hanna.  "If  we  don't  get  Fun- 
ston  in  the  army,"  was  the  burden  of  the  story  they  told, 
"he  will  come  back  into  Kansas,  and  as  a  hero  he'll  bust 
everything  that  has  been  fixed  up  just  right.  There  are 
going  to  be  two  senatorial  vacancies  pretty  soon,  and 
we  know  just  how  they  are  going  to  be  filled.  But  if 
Funston  comes  home  they'll  make  as  much  of  him  as 
they  have  of  Roosevelt  in  New  York,  and  it'll  upset 
everything." 

Of  course  Hanna  saw  it,  and  McKinley  saw  it,  and 
Corbin  had  to  see  it,  and  it  was  not  very  long  before  he 
told  some  one  that  the  way  to  popularize  the  regular 
army  was  to  recognize  good  volunteer  soldiers  who  had 
the  makings  of  good  officers.  His  later  judgment  was 
correct.  Funston  proved  to  be  one  of  the  best  officers 
who  held  a  general's  commission. 

Dewey's  victory  and  long  control  in  Manila  Bay 
made  him  the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  the  military 
and  naval  service,  and  brought  him  into  the  lime-light 
as  a  possible  Presidential  candidate,  but  there  were 
many  obstacles  to  Dewey's  advancement.  He  was  not 
a  politician — almost  a  fatal  defect.  He  was  induced 
to  announce  his  candidacy,  but  it  fell  flat.  In  the 
first  place,  if  he  had  any  politics  at  all,  he  belonged  to 
the  minority  party.  Bryan  controlled  that  party  and 
had  decreed  that  anti-expansion  should  be  one  of  the 
cardinal  principles.  The  greatest  card  that  Dewey 


Roosevelt  in  the  War  273 

could  play  was  the  fact  that  he  had  made  expansion 
possible.  There  was  no  room  for  a  naval  hero  of  that 
kind  in  the  Democratic  camp.  In  fact,  there  was  no 
room  for  anyone  with  Presidential  aspirations. 

McKinley  was  sure  of  a  second  nomination,  and 
seemed  to  be  assured  of  reelection.  So  the  one  op 
portunity  for  the  country  to  reward  a  naval  hero  was 
blocked  by  the  men  who  had  the  prestige  and  political 
power.  And  all  the  honor  given  Dewey  was  a  grand 
reception  and  an  ovation  when  he  arrived  in  the  United 
States. 

For  the  victor  or  victors  of  the  sea  fight  at  Santiago 
there  was  neither  an  ovation  nor  a  reception.  The 
Sampson-Schley  controversy  made  that  impossible. 
The  feud  cast  a  blight  upon  the  Navy. 

Richmond  P.  Hobson  was  the  only  naval  hero  of  the 
Spanish  war  who  realized  politically  on  his  daring 
exploit.  It  is  doubtful  that  he  ever  would  have  been 
able  to  represent  an  Alabama  district  in  Congress  if  he 
had  not  won  a  great  reputation  in  sinking  the  Merrimac 
in  the  mouth  of  Santiago  harbor.  It  seemed  that 
Hobson  and  every  man  who  went  with  him,  when  they 
left  the  fleet  were  going  into  the  jaws  of  death.  The 
chances  of  their  escape  were  very  slim  indeed.  That 
they  came  out  alive  is  one  of  the  many  wonders  of  that 
wonderful  war. 

Hobson  afterwards  resigned  from  the  Navy  to  enter 
public  life  and  served  several  terms  in  Congress.  He 
was  particularly  conspicuous  as  the  champion  of  a  large 
Navy  and  an  earnest  advocate  of  prohibition. 

VOL.   I — 18 


274        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

The  promotion  of  Leonard  Wood,  who  was  a  surgeon 
with  the  rank  of  captain,  to  be  a  brigadier  general,  is  an 
interesting  episode  in  Army  affairs  and  occurred  during 
the  short  session  in  1901.  Wood  was  selected  to  com 
mand  the  Rough  Riders  at  the  beginning  of  the  Spanish 
war.  He  was  not  long  in  Cuba  before  he  was  made  a 
brigadier  general  of  volunteers,  not  only  on  account  of 
service  rendered,  but  because  he  was  a  favorite  of  Presi 
dent  McKinley.  When  the  other  officers  with  their 
troops  hurried  away  from  Santiago  on  account  of  the 
fever,  Wood  remained  in  command  with  troops  having 
already  had  the  fever  and  consequently  immune. 

While  in  command  at  Santiago,  Wood  sent  reports  to 
the  War  Department  covering  every  phase  of  the 
military  situation,  and,  besides,  gave  all  available  infor 
mation  about  the  climate,  crops,  resources,  inhabitants, 
and  everything  else  that  he  could  get  about  the  province 
of  Santiago  and  adjacent  territory.  When  Root  came 
to  the  War  Department  he  delved  into  the  various 
reports  and  found  that  Wood  had  learned  a  lot  about 
Cuba.  Later  Root  had  the  selection  of  a  governor- 
general  of  Cuba  and  chose  Wood.  McKinley  was  glad 
to  promote  him  to  be  major  general  of  volunteers  and 
appoint  him  to  the  important  post. 

At  Havana  Wood  repeated  what  he  had  done  at 
Santiago.  He  furnished  the  Department  with  complete 
information  about  the  condition  of  the  island.  As 
commanding  general  he  inaugurated  a  clean-up  cam 
paign,  his  previous  medical  training  fitting  him  to  super 
vise  that  kind  of  work.  A  man  who  did  things  always 


Roosevelt  in  the  War  275 

attracted  the  attention  and  secured  the  admiration  of 
Secretary  Root. 

While  Wood  was  a  major  general  of  volunteers  and 
commanding  in  Cuba  a  number  of  vacancies  occurred 
in  the  grade  of  brigadier  general  in  the  regular  army. 
The  names  of  Leonard  Wood,  Fred  D.  Grant  and  J. 
Franklin  Bell  were  sent  to  the  Senate  by  President 
McKinley.  The  Senate  balked;  almost  the  first  and 
last  time  when  McKinley  wanted  anything.  The 
military  committee  would  not  report  the  nominations, 
and  Senator  Carter  was  delegated  to  see  the  President 
and  tell  him  the  committee  had  objections  to  jumping 
two  captains  and  one  civilian  over  thousands  of  able 
and  efficient  officers. 

With  the  suave  manner  that  distinguished  McKinley, 
with  kindly  tone  and  impressive  language  he  showed 
Carter  that  Wood  must  be  confirmed.  It  was  necessary, 
he  said,  to  have  an  officer  of  high  rank  as  governor- 
general  of  Cuba  in  order  to  impress  the  people  who 
had  been  used  to  military  men  with  rank  in  that  posi 
tion.  Wood  must  soon  be  mustered  out  as  a  volunteer 
general  if  he  was  not  confirmed  as  a  brigadier  general, 
and  compelled  to  relinquish  his  command  in  Cuba. 
That  would  be  most  unfortunate.  He  was  the  right 
man  in  the  right  place.  If  the  Senate  refused  to  con 
firm  him  he  must  retire  from  Cuba  at  once,  as 
he  could  not  remain  in  such  a  responsible  position 
after  being  discredited  by  the  Senate.  That  would 
be  about  as  great  a  calamity  as  could  befall  the 
island  and  very  disastrous  to  the  plans  which  the  Ad- 


276        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

ministration  had  in  view  for  the  settlement  of  Cuban 
questions. 

Carter  reported  to  the  military  committee  what 
the  President  had  said,  and  all  three  men  were  con 
firmed. 

The  promotion  of  Bell  had  more  military  glory  con 
nected  with  it.  Bell  went  to  the  Philippines  as  a  staff 
officer.  The  same  influence  which  procured  him  this 
advancement  made  him  a  colonel  of  one  of  the  volunteer 
regiments,  and  this  was  but  a  step  to  a  brigadier  general 
of  volunteers.  In  this  capacity  he  had  command  of  a 
force  which  was  pushing  northward  in  the  island  of 
Luzon,  fighting  little  groups  of  insurrectoes  here  and 
there.  The  signal  corps  were  trying  to  make  a  record 
at  that  time  and  kept  the  telegraph  line  right  up  with 
the  troops,  and  this  enabled  continuous  communication 
to  be  maintained  with  Manila. 

Every  day  a  telegram  was  sent  back  to  Manila  saying 
that  Bell  had  encountered  a  band  of  insurrectoes  at 
this  or  that  place  and  put  them  to  flight  with  so  many 
killed  or  wounded.  Every  day  a  cable  was  sent  to 
Washington  telling  of  Bell's  achievements  and  signed 
by  the  commanding  general,  which  gave  such  dispatches 
an  importance.  Every  day  these  dispatches  were  given 
to  the  newspaper  men  in  the  War  Department. 

"There's  a  Bell  that  rings  every  day,"  remarked 
Secretary  Root,  after  reading  one  of  the  dispatches. 

And  that  is  the  way  Frank  Bell,  a  captain,  came  to  be 
made  a  brigadier  general  in  the  regular  army  and  subse 
quently  as  a  matter  of  course  became  a  major  general. 


Roosevelt  in  the  War  277 

As  to  Grant  there  was  very  little  opposition.  The 
social  influence  of  Mrs.  Grant,  the  earnest  activity  of 
Senator  Elkins,  and  the  Grant  name  were  enough  to 
insure  his  appointment  and  confirmation. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  PHILIPPINES  AND  CUBA 

How  President  McKinley  Was  Influenced  by  Public  Opinion  to  Retain 
the  Islands — The  Churches  Take  a  Hand — Business  Interests 
Wanted  to  End  the  War— The  Treaty  Ratified  by  Great  Pressure- 
Bryan  Takes  an  Important  Part  in  Securing  Democratic  Votes  for 
Ratification— Cuba  Tied  to  the  United  States  by  the  Platt  Amend 
ment. 

HPHE  main  reason  for  the  acquisition  of  the  Philip- 
pines  by  the  United  States  was  the  desire  on  the 
part  of  our  people  for  more  territory,  a  desire  that  had 
been  growing  as  the  Frontier  disappeared  and  the  great 
West  became  settled.  There  was  also  a  desire  to  own 
islands  in  the  sea  and  to  have  the  flag  float  over  distant 
possessions.  The  demand  for  retention  of  the  islands 
was  backed  also  by  Church  influence  which  could  not  be 
disregarded. 

When  President  McKinley  appointed  the  com 
missioners  to  negotiate  peace  with  Spain  he  had  no  idea 
of  taking  over  the  Philippines.  We  held  possession  of 
Manila  and  Iloilo,  the  two  principal  cities  and  seaports, 
but  there  was  no  actual  possession  and  no  necessity  for 
keeping  the  islands,  save  that  the  sentiment  of  the 
country  so  decreed. 

After  the  war,  and  when  the  problems  it  left  were 
pressing  upon  the  government,  President  McKinley, 

278 


The  Philippines  and  Cuba         279 

feeling  his  way,  found  that  there  was  an  overwhelming 
sentiment  in  favor  of  having  the  "flag  stay  put." 

President  McKinley  went  to  the  exposition  at  Omaha 
while  the  commissioners  were  negotiating  in  Paris. 
He  made  speeches  in  which  he  delicately  felt  out  the 
sentiment  of  the  people  on  the  subject  of  the  Philippines, 
as  the  question  of  keeping  them  or  holding  them  was 
then  a  topic  of  discussion.  He  touched  lightly  at  first 
upon  the  flag  floating  over  distant  territory,  and  soon 
saw  that  the  crowds  who  listened  to  him  desired  to 
retain  the  territory  where  Americans  had  shed  their 
blood.  As  he  journeyed  homeward  he  stopped  at  differ 
ent  points  and  made  speeches,  and  each  time  spoke  more 
strongly  in  favor  of  keeping  the  flag  afloat  in  lands 
rightfully  taken  by  our  bfcuje  soldiers  and  sailors.  The 
cheers  of  the  crowd  grew  more  vociferous,  and  when  he 
asked  if  we  should  "scuttle, "  the  thunders  in  the  nega 
tive  seemed  to  express  the  will  of  the  people. 

"This  has  been  the  most  unfortunate  trip  the  Presi 
dent  ever  made,"  General  Corbin  remarked  in  his  office 
one  morning  as  we  were  scanning  the  papers .  ' '  Have  you 
noticed  what  he  has  been  saying  and  how  the  crowds 
approve  the  idea  of  holding  the  Philippines?  I  know 
McKinley  and  know  that  he  will  be  guided  by  what 
the  people  want.  He  is  a  better  judge  of  what  the 
people  want  than  any  man  I  know.  The  sentiment  in 
favor  of  keeping  those  islands  seems  so  great  that  it  will 
determine  McKinley 's  course." 

"What  about  them,  anyway?"  I  asked.  "To  tell 
the  truth  I  never  heard  much  about  them  before  this 


280        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

war,  except  that  I  do  remember  to  have  heard  of 
Manila  hemp." 

"I  know  enough  about  them  to  know  that  we  do  not 
want  them,"  replied  Corbin.  "The  best  thing  Dewey 
could  have  done  after  he  destroyed  those  ships  would 
have  been  to  sail  away  and  come  home.  But  I'm  afraid 
it  is  too  late  now." 

Corbin  was  right.  President  McKinley  came  back 
very  much  impressed  with  the  sentiment  of  the  people 
in  favor  of  retaining  the  Islands. 

Then  began  the  pressure  of  the  Churches.  It  may 
seem  strange  that  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  Churches 
J  were  both  anxious  to  have  the  Islands  taken  over  by  the 
United  States.  The  Catholic  prelates  believed  that 
their  people  would  receive  better  treatment  under 
United  States  rule  than  under  Spain.  They  also 
believed  that  education  would  be  introduced  in  the 
islands,  and  that  was  one  motive  that  actuated  Arch 
bishop  Ireland  in  favoring  acquisition.  The  Protest 
ants  believed  there  was  an  excellent  opportunity  for 
missionary  work  in  the  islands;  that  there  were  many 
heathen  there,  and  that  under  the  government  of  the 
United  States  they  could  establish  missions  and  do 
much  good  work,  possibly  bringing  over  many  who  were 
nominally  Catholics,  but  who  were  not  satisfied  with  the 
manner  in  which  Church  affairs  had  been  administered 
in  the  islands. 

Mark  Hanna's  influence  was  secured  by  the  element 
in  business  that  believed  there  was  a  great  field  for 
exploitation.  They  saw  opportunities  for  development 


The  Philippines  and  Cuba         281 

of  large  properties  which  might  be  easily  acquired. 
Possibly  there  was  the  old  buccaneer  spirit  in  the  ideas 
they  had  of  making  use  of  the  Philippines. 

All  these  influences  induced  the  President  to  instruct 
the  peace  commissioners  to  take  over  the  islands  and 
finally  to  pay  Spain  $20,000,000  for  them. 

There  is  no  more  interesting  chapter  in  our  history 
of  that  period  than  the  manner  in  which  the  treaty  of 
peace,  the  most  important  feature  of  which  was  that  of 
ceding  the  Philippines  to  the  United  States,  was  put 
through  the  Senate.  For  several  weeks  there  was  not 
.the  necessary  two-thirds  majority  in  the  Senate  for  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty.  It  seemed  almost  impossible 
to  obtain  such  a  majority.  Senator  Gorman  taunted 
Senator  Davis,  the  Chairman  of  the  Foreign  Relations 
Committee  and  in  charge  of  the  treaty,  because  he  would 
not  allow  the  treaty  to  come  to  a  vote.  Davis  was 
only  nominally  in  charge.  Hanna  was  in  actual  charge, 
just  as  he  was  in  charge  of  everything  in  the  Senate 
during  McKinley's  administration. 

There  was  an  element  which  did  not  want  the 
Philippines.  This  was  the  main  cause  of  opposi 
tion  to  the  treaty.  With  that  provision  eliminated 
it  is  altogether  probable  that  there  would  have  been  no 
opposition  to  ratification.  On  a  motion  to  strike  out 
the  provision  acquiring  the  Philippines  the  yeas  were 
thirty  and  the  nays  fifty- three,  which  showed  that 
there  was  a  very  strong  majority  for  acquiring  the 
islands.  The  fear  of  business  generally  that  a  rejection 
of  the  treaty  might  mean  reopening  the  war  brought 


282        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

tremendous  pressure  to  bear  on  Senators  who  were 
weak-kneed,  and  there  were  many  of  that  kind. 

"It's  an  outrage,"  Senator  Gorman  remarked  to  me 
one  day,  ' '  the  way  Hanna  and  his  friends  are  working 
this  treaty  through  the  Senate.  If  an  honest  vote 
could  be  taken  I  doubt  whether  there  is  a  bare  majority 
for  the  treaty;  but  all  the  railroad  influence,  which  is 
being  worked  through  Elkins,  all  the  commercial 
interests,  and  every  other  interest  which  can  be  reached, 
are  bringing  pressure  to  bear  on  Senators  in  the  most 
shameful  manner.  Some  of  the  things  they  are  doing 
transcend  the  bounds  of  decency." 

But  they  got  the  votes.  Hale  of  Maine  and  Hoar  of 
Massachusetts  were  Republicans  who  would  not  sup 
port  the  treaty.  Democrats  and  Populists  had  to  be 
secured  to  make  up  the  necessary  two-thirds  majority. 
McEnery,  a  venerable  Senator  from  Louisiana,  was 
corralled  by  Aldrich,  who  had  worked  with  him  on  the 
sugar  schedule  in  the  tariff  bill.  McEnery  was 
promised  the  appointment  of  a  United  States  judge  of 
his  choice.  McLaurin  of  South  Carolina  was  won  over 
by  being  allowed  to  name  postmasters  in  that  state. 
Kenney  of  Delaware  was  squeezed  by  some  sort  of  a 
court  proceeding  in  his  state  and  had  to  vote  for  the 
treaty.  But  even  then  there  were  votes  which  could 
not  have  been  obtained. 

Then  a  most  remarkable  thing  happened.  Colonel 
William  J.  Bryan  of  the  Third  Nebraska  Volunteers 
came  to  Washington.  He  went  into  the  marble  room 
in  the  rear  of  the  Senate  chamber,  sent  for  Democratic 


The  Philippines  and  Cuba         283 

Senators  and  urged  them  to  vote  for  the  treaty.  As 
the  leader  of  the  Democratic  party,  he  virtually  com 
manded  them  to  vote  for  ratification.  He  secured 
enough  votes  to  enable  Hanna,  Elkins  and  Aldrich  to 
ratify  a  treaty  which  saddled  the  country  with  distant 
colonial  possessions  in  tropical  Asia. 

Although  Congress  had  declared  that  "the  people 
of  Cuba  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independ 
ent,"  it  developed  during  the  time  Cuba  was  under  the 
military  government  of  the  United  States  that  complete 
self  government  in  the  islands  was  not  practicable. 
After  many  conferences  and  a  spirited  controversy  in 
the  Senate,  the  Platt  Amendment  to  an  army  appropri 
ation  bill  was  adopted.  It  gave  this  country  control 
over  Cuban  foreign  policies  and  sanitation,  limited 
her  indebtedness,  and  gave  the  United  States  a  naval 
base  and  coaling  stations.  Also  this  government  re 
served  the  right  of  intervention  to  preserve  peace  in 
the  island.  Afterwards  there  arose  a  controversy  as  to 
the  real  authorship  of  the  Platt  Amendment,  and  sev 
eral  Senators  claimed  they  had  had  a  hand  in  framing 
it.  Senator  Platt  of  Connecticut  told  me  McKinley 
had  as  much  to  do  with  it  as  anybody. 

The  Platt  Amendment  was  first  offered  in  the  Senate 
on  February  25,  1901.  On  February  9,  1901,  Elihu 
Root,  Secretary  of  War,  sent  to  General  Leonard 
Wood,  governor-general  of  Cuba,  a  dispatch,  telling  him 
that  certain  stipulations  must  be  made  a  part  of  the 
Cuban  constitution  then  in  process  of  construction  by 
the  constitutional  convention  sitting  at  Havana.  The 


284        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

provisions  which  Root  wrote  were  almost  identical 
paragraph  by  paragraph  with  articles  in  the  Platt 
Amendment,  with  a  slight  change  in  the  verbiage  in  one 
or  two  instances,  but  without  the  article  referring 
to  the  sanitation  of  the  island. 

McKinley  took  the  instructions  which  his  versatile 
Secretary  of  War  sent  to  the  Cubans  through  General 
Wood,  and  handed  them  to  the  Senators  with  the 
instruction  that  he  wanted  them  enacted  into  lav/  by 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

Some  things  are  never  fully  explained.  One  is  why 
the  Isle  of  Pines  should  have  been  made  a  special 
exception  in  the  Platt  Amendment.  I  think  it  can  be 
explained  to  some  extent  by  the  fact  that  constituents 
of  certain  Senators  had  acquired  some  sort  of  a  title  to 
lands  in  the  Isle  of  Pines  and  were  determined  to  main 
tain  their  claims,  which  they  could  do  if  the  island  was 
declared  United  States  territory.  To  all  intents  and 
purposes  the  Isle  of  Pines  is  just  as  much  a  part  of  Cuba 
as  Long  Island  is  a  part  of  the  United  States. 

The  manner  in  which  a  foothold  in  the  Isle  of  Pines 
was  secured  and  has  been  maintained  since  is  rather 
interesting.  It  happened  after  Root  became  Secretary 
of  War.  He  was  absent  one  day  and  there  came  over 
the  desk  of  Acting  Secretary  George  D.  Meiklejohn  a 
paper  relating  to  a  claim  of  an  American  citizen  in  the 
Isle  of  Pines.  Meiklejohn  was  not  a  man  to  shirk 
responsibility.  He  was  acting  Secretary  and  he  acted. 
He  signed  the  paper  and  by  that  scratch  of  the  pen  he 
established  United  States  sovereignty  over  the  Isle  of 


The  Philippines  and  Cuba         285 

Pines,  asserting  that  it  was  not  a  part  of  Cuba.  In 
those  days  the  Secretary  of  War  was  all-powerful  in 
every  part  of  the  islands  taken  from  Spain,  and  so 
Meiklejohn  had  acquired  the  Isle  of  Pines  for  the 
United  States.  Nearly  one  hundred  adventurous 
spirits  took  advantage  of  the  action  of  Meiklejohn  and 
established  claims  and  asserted  title  to  tracts  of  land  in 
the  new  possession  as  United  States  citizens  on  United 
States  soil. 

When  Secretary  Root  returned  and  found  what  had 
happened  and  what  was  going  on  under  the  action  of  his 
assistant  during  his  absence,  he  promptly  repudiated 
and  rescinded  the  order,  but  it  was  too  late  in  one 
respect.  Those  Americans  acquired  ' '  vested  rights, ' '  or 
what  they  claimed  as  such,  and  they  held  on.  The 
United  States  government  has  never  attempted  to 
assert  a  claim  to  the  Isle  of  Pines.  In  fact  Secretary 
Root  distinctly  avowed  that  the  Isle  of  Pines  was  a  part 
of  Cuban  territory.  When  he  was  Secretary  of  State  he 
negotiated  a  treaty  with  Cuba  ceding  the  island  to  that 
republic,  or  at  least  disclaiming  any  right  or  title  or 
claim  to  title  by  the  United  States.  But  the  treaty 
was  not  ratified.  The  men  who  located  on  the  island 
immediately  after  Meikle John's  action  were  power 
ful  enough  to  prevent  the  ratification. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

HAWAII  AND  THE  CANAL 

Spanish  War  Annexes  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  Builds  the  Panama 
Canal— Tom  Reed  Unable  to  Stop  Expansion — Had  to  Prove  That 
the  Majority  Could  Rule — Oregon's  Trip  Around  South  America 
Forces  Canal  Construction — The  Spanish  War  Makes  the  United 
States  a  World  Power — Becomes  the  Big  Policeman  of  the 
American  Continent— Monroe  Doctrine  Enlarged — Colonies  and  a 
New  Policy. 

THWO  very  important  results  growing  out  of  the 
Spanish  war  were  the  annexation  of  Hawaii  and 
the  construction  of  the  Panama  canal.  Dewey's  vic 
tory  in  Manila  Bay  made  it  imperative  in  the  minds  of 
many  people  that  Hawaii  should  be  taken  over  by  the 
United  States  in  order  that  no  neutral  laws  should  be 
violated  by  using  the  islands  in  such  manner  as  might 
be  necessary  for  the  Navy  or  the  Army  in  going  to  and 
from  the  Philippines.  The  canal  was  made  a  seeming 
necessity  by  the  trip  of  the  Oregon  around  South 
America  to  take  part  in  the  Spanish  war. 

For  years  Americans  wanted  Hawaii.  Our  Navy  had 
assisted  in  the  overthrow  of  Queen  Liliuokalani  and 
the  establishment  of  the  first  republic.  Then  for  a  few 
years  under  Cleveland  the  monarchy  was  sustained, 
but  before  the  advent  of  the  McKinley  administration 
the  American  interests  discarded  the  tinsel  of  Kanaka 

286 


Hawaii  and  the  Canal  287 

royalty  and  another  republic  was  established.  In 
earlier  days  a  treaty  had  been  made  with  the  Hawaiian 
kingdom  by  which  the  United  States  secured  the  naval 
base  at  Pearl  Harbor  and  in  return  the  Hawaiians 
were  granted  free  trade  with  the  United  States.  The 
sugar  barons  reaped  a  harvest  of  something  like 
$150,000,000,  which  they  would  have  paid  in  duties  if 
that  treaty  had  not  been  negotiated.  Generous  Uncle 
Sam! 

One  reason  why  there  was  a  demand  for  the  annexa 
tion  of  Hawaii  was  because  "we  needed  an  outpost  in 
the  Pacific,"  to  quote  military  and  naval  strategists. 
The  great  value  of  Hawaii  as  such  an  "outpost"  was 
often  made  the  high  note  in  a  jingo  speech.  In  those 
days  Japan  had  not  risen  to  her  present  commanding 
position,  and  Hawaii  was  not  necessary  to  guard  us 
against  the  "yellow  peril."  But  England  was  forever 
menacing  us  with  her  fortifications  at  Esquimalt  at  the 
entrance  to  Puget  Sound,  so  that  it  was  necessary  to 
go  out  two  thousand  miles  into  the  sea  and  build  an 
outpost  tc  protect  the  country  against  a  force  just  across 
the  Straits  of  Fuca.  Although  having  given  close  at 
tention  to  military  matters,  I  am  yet  at  a  loss  to  under 
stand  how  an  isolated  army  post  and  naval  station  two 
thousand  miles  away  was  of  any  advantage  to  the 
United  States.  The  result  has  been  that  Hawaii  has 
required  the  expenditure  of  a  large  amount  of  money  for 
a  naval  base,  and  many  troops  must  be  stationed  there 
constantly  in  order  to  insure  holding  the  island  as  an 
outpost,  and  at  the  same  time  every  military  and  naval 


288        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

expert  will  tell  you  that  in  our  present  condition  we 
could  not  hold  Hawaii  against  a  country  like  Japan 
ten  days. 

Speaker  Reed,  who  had  stood  by  McKinley  in  his 
effort  to  prevent  a  war  with  Spain,  would  not  follow  the 
President  in  his  effort  to  secure  the  annexation  of 
Hawaii.  In  breaking  with  McKinley  on  this  important 
matter  the  Speaker  found  himself  at  odds  with  nearly 
all  of  his  party  in  the  House,  including  the  leaders.  As 
Speaker  he  was  powerful  enough  to  block  the  considera 
tion  of  the  resolution  of  annexation.  This  resolution 
had  been  introduced  by  Francis  G.  Newlands,  a  Demo 
cratic  member  from  Nevada,  and  after  a  time  it  had 
been  reported  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs, 
a  committee  which  Reed  had  fashioned  after  his  own 
heart  and  many  of  whose  members  were  indebted  to 
him  for  such  prominence  as  they  had  in  the  House. 

An  interesting  incident  in  connection  with  assign 
ments  to  the  Foreign  Affairs  Committee  occurred  about 
that  time.  Champ  Clark  of  Missouri  had  been  trying 
ever  since  he  came  to  the  House  to  get  a  place  on  the 
Ways  and  Means  Committee.  He  had  given  much 
attention  to  the  tariff  and  had  made  his  first  speech  of 
importance  on  that  subject,  although  the  coterie  of 
Democrats  who  ran  the  House  had  tried  to  snuff  him 
out.  Reed  and  Champ  were  friends.  Clark  admired 
the  keen  wit  and  great  ability  of  Reed.  The  latter 
enjoyed  the  rugged,  homespun  expressions  and  intense 
honesty  of  Clark.  Champ  went  to  Reed  and  asked  for 
a  place  on  Ways  and  Means. 


Hawaii  and  the  Canal  289 

" Champ,  I'll  appoint  you,"  drawled  Reed,  "if  you 
insist,  but  to  tell  the  truth  I  want  you  to  help  me  by 
taking  another  assignment.  They're"  (he  didn't  say 
who  "they"  were,  but  the  inference  was  plain)  "bent 
on  annexing  Hawaii.  I  intend  to  block  their  game.  I 
want  a  man  on  the  Foreign  Affairs  Committee  who 
believes  as  I  do  and  who  is  a  fighter.  You're  that 
man." 

Clark  was  much  affected.  "If  you  put  it  that  way 
I'll  stand  by  you,"  he  replied,  and  he  sacrificed  a  place 
he  wanted  in  order  to  help  the  most  uncompromising 
and  able  political  opponent  of  his  party  in  the  country. 

But  foreign  complications  as  well  as  politics  make 
strange  bedfellows.  Just  at  that  time  Reed  had  a 
large  Democratic  following  and  little  or  no  Republican 
support.  The  Republican  party  was  the  party  of  ex 
pansion;  it  had  been  the  party  which  supported  and 
approved  the  first  Hawaiian  revolt  and  vigorously  de 
nounced  Cleveland  for  his  policy  in  regard  to  the 
islands.  But  Reed  was  never  in  accord  with  any  move 
ment  for  expansion.  He  opposed  increasing  the  terri 
torial  limits  of  the  United  States.  He  believed  that  it 
would  break  down  the  protective  system  in  this  country, 
and  do  great  damage  to  that  section  which  he  sincerely 
loved — New  England. 

Clark  was  not  of  very  much  help  to  Reed  in  stemming 
the  tide  against  Hawaiian  annexation.  The  Demo 
crats  on  the  committee  were  not  very  strong  in  opposi 
tion  and  the  Republicans  were  with  McKinley,  so  the 
Newlands  resolution  was  reported. 

VOL.  I — IQ 


290        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Then  followed  one  of  the  strangest  parliamentary 
battles  ever  known  in  the  House.  It  had  been  the 
boast  of  Reed  that  the  House  of  Representatives  could 
do  anything  it  wanted  to  do.  He  asserted,  during  all 
the  years  that  he  ruled  it  with  an  iron  hand,  and  when 
he  had  back  of  him  an  unyielding  Republican  majority, 
that  it  was  the  House  which  was  working  its  will.  But 
here  was  a  different  situation.  The  House  was  un 
doubtedly  in  favor  of  annexing  Hawaii.  The  majority 
party  in  power  favored  it,  and  here  was  the  resolution 
in  the  House,  but  the  majority  was  unable  to  get  it  be 
fore  the  House  for  consideration  in  a  parliamentary 
way.  Reed  as  Speaker  controlled  the  situation. 

But  he  was  too  wise  to  remain  as  the  stone  in  the 
road.  One  day  he  told  his  parliamentary  assistant 
that  if  General  Grosvenor,  who  was  the  parliamentary 
leader  of  the  forces  in  favor  of  annexation,  wanted  to 
put  the  resolution  through  he  could  do  so  by  simply  rais 
ing  the  question  of  consideration  on  every  other  meas 
ure  that  was  brought  up,  and,  whenever  opportunity 
offered,  move  to  proceed  to  public  business  instead  of 
any  particular  measure.  "If  he  has  the  votes  he  can 
win,"  said  Reed.  Asher  Hinds,  to  whom  this  informa 
tion  was  conveyed,  was  no  infant  and  soon  Grosvenor 
was  in  possession  of  Reed's  view.  He  followed  it  up  at 
once,  and  it  was  soon  apparent  that  he  had  the  House 
tied  in  a  bow-knot.  One  day,  getting  recognition,  he 
moved  to  proceed  to  public  business.  The  Demo 
cratic  parliamentarians  were  up  with  points  of  order,  and 
it  was  expected  that  Grosvenor  would  be  thrown  down 


Hawaii  and  the  Canal  291 

by  Reed,  as  no  such  motion  had  ever  before  been  made 
in  the  House.  But,  to  the  surprise  of  nearly  every 
body  who  was  not  on  the  inside,  Reed  held  it  in  order 
and  Grosvenor  had  control  of  the  House.  He  forced 
the  opposition  to  come  to  terms  and  agree  upon  a  vote 
upon  the  annexation  resolution  after  reasonable  debate. 

Reed  had  to  bow  to  the  will  of  the  majority  or  prove 
that  his  claim  that  the  House  controlled  itself  was  not 
true.  His  system  of  rules  was  in  danger.  He  always 
said  there  was  an  orderly  method  by  which  the  House 
could  work  its  will  and  the  Speaker  was  not  powerful 
enough  to  prevent  it. 

Reed  knew  that  with  a  near  majority  and  by  fine 
work  the  Speaker  and  his  lieutenants  could  browbeat 
and  frighten  enough  of  their  party  followers  to  secure 
legislation  or  defeat  legislation,  but  he  recognized  the 
fact  that  in  order  to  maintain  the  principles  of  repre 
sentative  government  a  determined  majority  must 
prevail. 

From  the  time  Columbus  set  sail  across  an  unknown 
sea  there  had  been  a  desire  to  find  a  short  route  to  the 
Orient.  Most  of  the  explorations  up  the  streams  and 
inlets  on  the  Atlantic  coast  had  for  their  object  a  water 
route  to  the  Indies.  Finally,  it  was  found  that  the 
isthmus  connecting  North  and  South  America  was  the 
narrowest  barrier  between  the  two  great  oceans,  and  for 
nearly  four  hundred  years  men  dreamed  of  a  ship  canal 
uniting  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific.  How  Frenchmen 
worked  to  build  a  canal  on  the  Panama  route,  the  vari 
ous  canal  commissions  of  the  United  States,  and  the 


292        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

long  debates  on  the  subject  are  all  part  of  the  history 
that  led  up  to  the  ultimate  accomplishment. 

Tho^Oregon  built  the  canal. 

The  magnificent  ship,  for  such  she  was  in  those  days, 
the  pride  of  the  United  States  Navy,  was  ordered  to 
circumnavigate  South  America  and  join  the  Atlantic 
fleet.  No  one  can  say  who  originated  the  order,  but 
it  was  a  part  of  the  haphazard,  happy-go-lucky  system 
under  which  the  war  with  Spain  was  conducted.  The 
Atlantic  fleet  did  not  need  another  battleship  to  meet 
the  small  Spanish  squadron  any  more  than  a  cat  needs 
an  additional  tail.  But  as  soon  as  somebody  thought 
about  it  the  order  was  given  and  Captain  Clark  started 
on  his  memorable  voyage.  It  was  a  great  success.  He 
joined  the  Atlantic  fleet  and  was  there  when  Cervera 
made  his  forlorn-hope  dash  out  of  Santiago  harbor. 
The  Oregon  did  her  share  in  the  destruction  of  the 
Spanish  ships,  but  that  does  not  alter  the  fact  that  she 
was  not  needed  on  the  Atlantic  coast. 

But  that  trip  of  the  Oregon  built  the  canal.  It 
aroused  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  the  necess 
ity  of  having  a  waterway  by  which  the"  naval  force 
could  be  transferred  from  ocean  to  ocean  as  it  was 
needed.  Nothing  could  thereafter  stop  the  construc 
tion  of  the  canal.  There  was  a  sharp  contest  between 
the  Panama  and  Nicaragua  interests  before  the  route  of 
the  canal  was  finally  determined,  and  Panama  won, 
but  an  Isthmian  revolution  was  necessary  before  the 
waterway  could  be  commenced. 

The  United  States  emerged  from  the  Spanish  war  a 


Hawaii  and  the  Canal  293 

world  power.  More  than  that,  this  country  became 
the  Big  Policeman  of  the  American  continent,  on 
account  of  expanding  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

By  the  acquisition  of  lands  in  the  Far  East,  islands  in 
the  Atlantic  and  the  middle  of  the  Pacific,  and  by  con 
structing  the  Panama  canal  we  entered  that  arena  of 
world  politics  where  power  is  necessary  to  maintain  our 
position.  The  entangling  alliance  against  which  Wash 
ington  warned  had  finally  enmeshed  us.  We  became 
jointly  interested  with  other  powers  in  the  "open  door  " 
in  China  and  the  preservation  of  the  integrity  of  China 
as  a  nation.  We  sent  troops  to  Peking,  acting  jointly 
with  other  World  Powers.  We  have  entered  into  treaty 
obligations  with  other  nations  which  would  not  have 
been  necessary  but  for  the  results  of  the  Spanish  war. 

As  a  World  Power  we  have  built  strong  fortifications 
in  the  Philippines  and  our  Army  garrisons  many  forts 
in  tropical  seas.  We  have  attempted  to  make  a  Gibral 
tar  of  Hawaii  and  build  an  outpost  to  protect  the  high 
way  of  our  Navy  and  merchant  marine.  We  have 
built  and  fortified  the  Panama  canal  and  incurred 
obligations  and  responsibilities  which  bring  us  in  closer 
touch  with  foreign  nations  than  ever  before. 

Prior  to  the  Spanish  war  we^jiadji  Monroe  Doctrine 
whichjiieai^^  not  colonize 

nor  acc^j^md^  Since 

the  Spanish  war  we  have  assumed  guardianship  over 
the  weaker  southern  nations.  In  taking  Cuba  from 
Spain  we  assumed  the  responsibility  of  orderly  govern 
ment  in  that  island,  guaranteeing  the  protection  of  the 


294        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

lives  and  property  of  foreigners,  the  payment  of  just 
debts  of  the  Cuban  government,  and  in  other  ways 
promising  on  behalf  of  Cuba  good  behavior  to  the  rest 
of  the  world. 

We  have  felt  compelled  to  go  farther  than  ever  be 
fore  in  regard  to  the  debts  of  some  of  these  countries 
and  the  management  of  their  finances.  In  South  and 
Central  America  and  in  the  islands  of  the  sea  we  have 
made  our  power  felt,  and  by  our  actions  assured  foreign 
governments  that  we  assume  the  responsibility  for  the 
peace  or  punishment  of  the  people. 

It  was  not  until  turmoil  and  civil  strife  had  torn 
Mexico  into  shreds  that  our  Government  assumed  the 
power  to  dismiss  a  President  of  that  country,  but  that 
act  was  in  keeping  with  the  policy  of  policing  the 
American  continent. 

Perhaps  if  there  had  been  no  Spanish  war  we  never 
would  have  expanded  the  Monore  Doctrine  until  one 
can  no  longer  gauge  its  limitations.  Mr.  Cleveland 
had  gone  to  extraordinary  lengths  when  he  assumed  to 
umpire  a  boundary  dispute  between  Great  Britain  and 
Venezuela.  But  since  the  Spanish  war  we  tell  other 
nations  that  they  shall  not  land  forces  to  collect  debts; 
that  we  will  take  charge  of  such  matters. 

Expansion  was  a  direct  result  of  a  foreign  war.  It 
brought  us  territories  inhabited  by  people  who  do  not 
fit  into  our  fundamental  scheme  of  government.  The 
best  government  in  the  world  is  the  local  self-govern 
ment  of  small  communities  with  the  least  possible  inter 
ference  by  state  and  national  authorities.  Such  a 


Hawaii  and  the  Canal  295 

government  is  frugal,  careful  and  just.  Furthermore 
it  is  honest. 

The  lands  acquired  by  the  United  States  before  the 
Spanish  war  were  populated  thinly  by  white  people,  or 
by  savages  who  had  to  be  governed  by  force.  Im 
migration  followed,  and  when  the  new  regions  were 
settled  by  people  from  the  older  states,  local  self-govern 
ment  was  instituted.  Our  territories,  even  Alaska, 
had  their  local  governments  as  soon  as  there  were  people 
to  organize  and  maintain  them. 

But  suppose  the  lands  we  acquired  and  the  lands 
over  which  we  have  a  protectorate  should  be  divided 
into  towns  and  townships  as  in  our  own  country,  and 
told  to  set  up  their  own  self-governments,  what  would 
be  the  result?  So  disastrous  that  self-government 
would  be  condemned  forever  more. 

The  lands  acquired  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  war 
were  already  peopled.  The  cynical  remark  of  a  Senator 
that  Cuba  would  be  all  right  if  it  could  be  sunk  in  the 
ocean  for  twenty-four  hours,  was  a  cruel  way  of  des 
cribing  the  people  and  their  incapacity  for  governing 
themselves.  "You  can't  make  a  white  man  and  a 
banana  grow  on  the  same  quarter  section  of  land," 
was  another  remark  of  Senator  Pettigrew,  "and  where 
bananas  grow  there  is  no  self-government." 

The  result  has  been  that  we  have  changed  our  poli 
cies.  The  statement  in  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence  about  the  "consent  of  the  governed"  does  not 
apply  to  our  new  territory.  The  people  were  not 
capable  or  ready  for  self-government. 


296        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

The  United  States  has  become  a  giant  among  nations. 
We  have  the  power  and  capacity  to  grapple  with  every 
problem  that  comes  to  us.  While  it  is  true  that  the 
Spanish  war  turned  our  course  and  that  up  to  that  time 
we  did  not  look  beyond  the  shores  of  the  two  great 
oceans,  we  took  up  and  handled  the  great  responsibili 
ties  of  that  war  like  American  citizens.  If  we  have 
colonies,  we  govern  them  wisely  and  well.  If  we  have 
become  a  World  Power,  we  shall  assert  and  maintain 
our  privileges  and  shoulder  our  responsibilities  like  a 
great  nation.  If  we  have  become  the  Big  Policeman  of 
the  American  continent,  we  shall  do  our  duty  as  an 
efficient  officer  should,  by  endeavoring  to  pacify  every 
outbreak  and  quarrel,  using  every  possible  means  and 
being  patient  to  the  last,  but  ready  and  strong  enough 
to  enforce  the  peace  and  insure  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  all  peoples  within  the  sphere  of  our  power  and 
influence. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THOMAS   B.    REED   RETIRES 

Announces  that  He  Will  Not  Be  a  Candidate  for  Speaker — No  Longer 
in  Harmony  with  His  Party  on  Expansion — Greatest  Man  of  His 
Time— Relations  With  the  President  and  Senate— A  Pork  Barrel 
Incident — Praised  by  a  Political  Opponent — Speakership  Contest 
— Cannon's  Defeat  in  Illinois  Causes  a  Stampede  to  Henderron — 
Uncle  Joe's  Vicious  Comments — John  L.  Wilson's  Farewell. 

HTHE  Fifty-fifth  Congress  expired  on  March  4,  1899. 
At  that  time  the  country  had  entered  upon  a  new 
policy.  Expansion  had  made  the  nation  a  World 
Power,  or  it  had  at  least  caused  the  country  to  enter 
world  politics. 

William  McKinley  with  Mark  Hanna  behind  him 
had  established  himself  firmly  as  the  leader  of  his  party. 
He  had  been  able  to  accomplish  everything  he  set  out 
to  do. 

Thomas  B.  Reed  was  dissatisfied  with  the  trend  of  the 
party  toward  expansion,  and  the  party  was  dissatisfied 
with  Reed,  who  stood  in  the  way  of  the  policies  of  the 
Republican  President.  Reed  had  referred  to  the 
acquisition  of  the  Philippines  and  the  payment  of 
$20,000,000  for  the  islands,  as  the  "purchase  of  Malays 
at  $2  per  head."  He  said  things  about  Hanna's  man 
agement  of  the  Republican  party  that  were  not  relished, 
but  the  most  serious  feature  of  all  was  that  in  condemn- 

297 


298        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

ing  expansion  he  was  criticizing  one  important  move  of 
the  Republican  administration  which  had  been  backed 
by  nearly-  everybody  in  the  Republican  party. 

At  the  close  of  the  Fifty-fifth  Congress  there  were 
mutterings  about  the  Speaker  and  the  iron  rule  he 
exercised  in  the  House.  Already  there  had  been  talk 
of  electing  another  Republican  as  Speaker.  It  was  as 
serted  that  a  man  who  would  be  in  harmony  with  the 
President  ought  to  be  in  a  place  of  such  power  and  in 
fluence  in  the  House.  And  yet  the  men  who  held  such 
views  did  not  try  to  persuade  anyone  to  become  a  can 
didate  against  Reed.  No  one  felt  sure  that  he  could 
beat  Reed.  In  spite  of  the  enemies  he  had  made,  Reed 
had  many  admirers  and  followers.  Moreover,  those 
who  knew  McKinley  were  uncertain  as  to  how  far  he 
would  go  in  supporting  a  candidate  in  opposition  to 
Reed.  McKinley  was  not  inclined  to  shoulder  a 
contest  if  it  could  be  avoided. 

Reed  exploded  a  bomb  in  April  by  announcing  that 
he  would  not  be  a  candidate  for  re-election. 

Among  the  Republicans  there  was  general  relief  that 
he  was  no  longer  to  be  Speaker.  He  was  a  hard 
master,  and  his  sarcastic  remarks  to  those  who  had 
opposed  his  will  were  very  exasperating.  His  lieuten 
ants  in  the  House  when  he  served  his  last  term  were 
Sereno  E.  Payne,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Ways 
and  Means  and  floor  leader ;  Joseph  G.  Cannon,  Chair 
man  of  the  Committee  on  Appropriations ;  John  Dalzell 
and  Charles  Grosvenor,  members  of  the  Committee  on 
Rules.  All  of  these  men  were  inclined  towards  McKinley, 


Thomas  B.  Reed  Retires          299 

some  of  them  the  President's  outspoken  friends.  To 
them  Reed  made  remarks  about  the  President  that  were 
very  unpalatable.  His  attitude  was  one  of  antagonism 
and  his  position  very  unsatisfactory  to  himself  and  the 
Republicans. 

The  Democrats,  on  the  contrary,  had  reached  a  stage 
where  they  appreciated  Reed  and  regretted  his  retire 
ment.  Perhaps  the  fact  that  he  differed  so  radically 
from  the  President,  and  the  possibility  that  there  might 
be  a  contest  between  Reed  and  McKinley  which  would 
split  the  Republicans,  was  the  chief  cause  of  the  change. 
But  aside  from  that,  they  had  learned  to  like  Reed 
much  better  than  when  he  was  Speaker  the  first  time. 

Although  Reed  served  three  terms  as  Speaker,  he 
was  at  his  best  in  the  Fifty-first  Congress.  One  of  the 
great  men  of  our  day  and  generation,  he  was  greatest 
when  he  earned  the  title  of  Czar,  swept  parliamentary 
cobwebs  out  of  the  House  and  reformed  the  methods 
of  legislative  procedure. 

Reed  was  physically  as  well  as  mentally  equipped  for 
the  great  work  he  performed.  He  was  a  man  of  com 
manding  presence,  considerably  above  the  medium 
height,  large  in  proportion  and  fleshy.  His  corpulence 
distressed  him,  although  he  made  no  effort  to  reduce, 
save  by  walking  to  and  from  the  Capitol. 

"You  must  weigh  much  more  than  250  pounds,"  once 
remarked  a  fat  enthusiast  of  about  that  weight. 

"No  gentleman  weighs  more  than  200  pounds," 
drawled  Reed. 

But  even  with  his  excessive  flesh  he  was  a  fine  look- 


300        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

ing  man.  His  head  was  large  and  bald,  but  of  intel 
lectual  mold.  His  face  was  round,  and  the  deep  brown 
eyes  were  almost  soulful  until  he  was  aroused,  and  they 
then  flashed  fire. 

Reed  was  always  conventionally  dressed.  Even 
when  the  absurd  broad  sash  was  worn  as  a  part  of  the 
summer  costume  for  men,  he  conformed  to  the  style 
and  furnished  paragraphs  for  the  funny  men. 

He  was  sarcastic  in  his  tones  and  severe  in  his  com 
ments.  He  would  utter  a  sharp  and  pointed  sentence, 
even  if  it  made  an  enemy  of  a  friend,  rather  than  forego 
the  enjoyment  he  had  in  seeing  his  victim  squirm. 

"Everybody  enjoys  Reed's  sarcastic  comments  and 
keen  wit,"  McKinley  once  said,  when  the  subject  was 
mentioned,  "except  the  fellow  who  is  the  subject  of  his 
satire." 

Men  whom  Reed  had  assailed  in  private  conversation 
or  in  debate  remembered  him  in  after  years  with  more 
or  less  bitterness.  It  has  been  said  that  he  preferred  to 
make  a  witty  remark  and  lose  a  friend  rather  than  for 
bear  and  retain  one.  While  his  victims  have  asserted 
that  it  was  this  characteristic  of  Reed  which  prevented 
him  from  being  President,  that  is  hardly  probable. 
Personalities  were  not  apparent  in  the  campaign  of 
1896. 

Reed's  career  in  politics  was  embittered  by  vexatious 
conditions.  In  the  early  days  he  and  Blaine  were  not  on 
friendly  terms.  Reed  thought  the  popularity  of  the 
Plumed  Knight  was  due  to  a  misconception  of  Elaine's 
character.  The  ill  feeling  was  increased  by  the  appear- 


Thomas  B.  Reed  Retires         301 

ance  of  a  letter  during  the  hot  quorum-counting  fight 
signed  '  'X.M.C."  The  writer  took  the  side  opposed  to 
Reed,  and  was  evidently  well  versed  in  parliamentary 
law.  It  bore  the  handmark  of  Elaine,  who  had  been 
Speaker  for  several  terms,  and  who  was  known  to  be 
antagonistic  to  the  position  of  Reed.  But  as  much  as 
Reed  disliked  Elaine  he  disliked  Harrison  more.  At 
the  Republican  convention  of  1892  Reed  was  seen 
cheering  during  the  Elaine  demonstration. 

"That  is  a  sight  for  the  gods,"  grimly  remarked  an 
old  time  Washington  correspondent.  "Tom  Reed 
cheering  Jim  Elaine.  He  had  to  come  to  it ;  not  that  he 
loves  Elaine,  but  he  hates  Harrison." 

Reed  broke  with  Harrison  soon  after  the  latter  be 
came  President,  and  it  was  on  account  of  a  Federal 
appointment. 

"I  had  one  political  enemy  in  Maine,"  remarked 
Reed,  "and  Harrison  made  him  collector  of  the  port  of 
Portland,  my  home  city,  giving  him  the  best  and  most 
powerful  political  office  in  the  state." 

He  never  got  over  the  affront.  He  thought  that  a 
man  holding  the  second  place  of  power  in  the  Govern 
ment  was  entitled  to  some  consideration,  but  the'Sena- 
tors  from  Maine  wanted  Reed's  enemy  and  they  won. 
Harrison  was  a  senatorial  President.  He  never  was  a 
member  of  the  House,  but  had  served  six  years  in  the 
Senate.  In  his  opinion  the  Senate  was  worth  consider 
ing.  During  his  term  he  would  always  turn  down  a 
member  of  the  House  and  give  preference  to  a 
Senator. 


302        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Reed's  relations  with  the  Maine  Senators  can  be 
summed  up  in  a  few  words;  there  were  no  relations. 
After  the  Portland  custom  collector's  appointment  he 
never  had  anything  more  to  do  with  them.  His  com 
ments  on  the  Senate  and  its  methods  of  business  did  not 
tend  to  make  such  punctilious  Senators  as  Hale  and 
Frye  entertain  any  idea  of  becoming  more  friendly  with 
him,  although  as  Maine  men  they  were  proud  of  him 
and  his  prominence. 

Men  who  had  seen  Reed  in  action  in  the  minority 
previous  to  his  elevation  to  the  Speakership  told  me  that 
he  was  better  before  he  was  Speaker  than  afterwards. 
Before  he  was  not  a  leader ;  when  he  became  the  minor 
ity  leader  in  the  Fifty-second  Congress,  he  assumed  a 
responsibility.  Before  he  acquired  such  prominence 
he  could  choose  his  antagonist,  and  he  always  chose  the 
best.  Afterwards  every  man,  great  or  small,  particu 
larly  the  little  fellow,  jumped  at  him.  It  did  not 
matter  whether  attacking  member  was  battered  and 
bruised,  he  could  tell  the  folks  at  home  that  he  "had 
been  in  a  lively  debate  with  Tom  Reed." 

And  that  recalls  a  time  when  Reed  was  making  a 
speech  and  some  member  jumped  up  and  asked  a 
question,  only  to  receive  a  crushing  retort.  The  success 
of  his  reply  pleased  Reed,  and  he  said : 

1 '  Having  imbedded  that  fly  in  the  liquid  amber  of  my 
remarks,  I  will  proceed." 

On  another  occasion  when  he  was  making  a  speech, 
and,  pressed  for  time,  was  rushing  along  at  a  rapid  pace, 
Amos  J.  Cummings  thought  he  saw  an  opportunity  to 


Thomas  B.  Reed  Retires          303 

make  a  point  and  interrupted.  Reed  towered  over  him 
and,  scowling,  snarled  fiercely : 

"Must  you  get  in!" 

The  writer-congressman  was  crushed,  for  the  infer 
ence  was  plain  that  he  wanted  to  "get  in"  in  order  to 
appear  as  having  had  a  debate  with  Reed. 

As  Speaker  Reed  was  beset  with  many  difficulties, 
mostly  relating  to  demands  of  men  in  his  party 
and  the  insurgent  tendencies  that  developed  among 
them.  He  had  not  been  in  the  Speaker's  chair,  the. 
first  time,  half  an  hour,  when  a  revolt  was  led  by 
Cheadle,  a  Republican  of  Indiana,  who  bolted  the  ac 
tion  of  the  Republican  caucus  in  regard  to  the  selection 
of  a  chaplain.  Cheadle  joined  the  Democrats  in  support 
of  Rev.  Dr.  Milburn,  the  blind  chaplain  of  the  former 
Congress,  and  enough  sympathetic  Republicans  fol 
lowed  Cheadle  to  elect  Milburn.  The  Indiana  man 
and  the  others  went  down  in  Reed's  black  book  and 
remained  there. 

Another  person  who  gave  Reed  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
was  Pickler  of  South  Dakota.  Elected  as  a  Republican, 
he  was  an  embryo  Populist.  He  was  one  of  the  prin 
cipal  delegates  and  speakers  at  the  convention  held  in 
Ocala,  Florida,  where  the  Populist  party  was  born. 
He  helped  to  make  the  "Ocala  platform,"  many  planks 
of  which,  though  derided  at  the  time  they  were  promul 
gated,  were  afterwards  incorporated  in  Democratic 
platforms  by  Bryan  and  put  into  legislation  by  Roose 
velt  and  Wilson. 

Pickler  was  an  old  soldier  as  well  as  a  Farmers'  Alii- 


304        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

ance  man,  a  woman  suffragist,  and,  what  proved  more 
annoying  to  Reed  than  anything  else,  a  rabid  prohibi 
tionist.  It  was  because  Pickler  insisted  upon  doing 
impractical  things  and  was  continually  putting  his 
party  associates  in  embarrassing  situations  that  Reed 
disliked  him. 

On  every  possible  occasion  Pickler  would  push  for 
ward  a  prohibition  proposition.  When  the  House  was 
in  committee  of  the  whole  no  record  of  the  vote  was 
possible  and  the  entire  Democratic  side  would  assist 
Pickler  in  getting  some  sort  of  an  absurd  prohibition 
amendment  into  an  appropriation  bill.  When  the  bill 
was  reported  to  the  House,  the  Democrats  would  de 
mand  a  roll  call  and  force  a  record  vote.  This  would 
be  particualrly  embarrassing  to  men  who  represented 
districts  which  were  strongly  prohibition  in  the  country 
and  anti-prohibition  in  the  towns  and  German  settle 
ments.  They  were  sure  to  make  opponents  no  matter 
which  way  they  voted.  A  few  such  moves  caused  Reed 
to  remark :  ' '  I  never  fully  understood  the  Biblical  term 
'the  wild  ass's  foal'  until  I  saw  Pickler." 

For  several  weeks  Pickler  had  pestered  Reed  to 
recognize  him  in  the  House  to  call  up  a  bill  which  the 
South  Dakota  man  was  anxious  to  have  passed. 
Finally,  Reed  promised  to  grant  the  recognition,  but 
soon  after  sent  word  to  one  of  his  lieutenants  on  the 
floor  to  object  to  Pickler's  bill. 

When  the  objection  was  made,  Pickler  in  some  heat 
rushed  over  to  the  member  and  asked  why  he  objected. 

"Reed  asked  me  to,"  was  the  reply. 


Thomas  B.  Reed  Retires          305 

Pickler  then  rushed  up  to  the  desk  and  demanded  of 
Reed:  "What  did  you  recognize  me  for  and  then  have 
an  objection  made  to  my  bill?" 

"Because  I  wanted  to  get  rid  of  you,"  truthfully 
answered  the  Speaker,  who  never  tried  to  dodge  when 
he  was  cornered. 

Reed  had  a  fondness  for  a  number  of  Democratic 
members.  Champ  Clark  was  first  in  his  affections, 
while  Fleming  of  Georgia,  John  Allen  of  Mississippi, 
Dockery  of  Missouri,  and  Lewis  of  Washington  he 
appreciated  for  their  ability  and  wit. 

During  a  session  when  the  Republicans  were  in  the 
minority,  and  the  Democrats  were  making  the  regular 
spasmodic  effort  toward  economy,  Reed  followed 
closely  a  river  and  harbor  bill.  When  a  provision  for 
an  improvement  in  Holman's  district  in  Indiana  was 
read  Reed  vigorously  attacked  it  and  was  proving  that 
it  was  a  useless  expenditure.  Holman  rose  to  defend 
the  appropriation  and  in  .nock  humiliation  Reed 
apologized,  saying  he  had  no  idea  that  the  appropria 
tion  was  to  be  expended  in  the  district  of  the  "watch 
dog  of  the  treasury." 

Soon  after  the  point  was  reached  providing  for  an 
expenditure  in  Dockery's  district,  and  Reed  made  an 
other  fierce  attack  upon  the  expenditure,  as  Dockery 
was  second  only  to  Holman  as  an  economist.  Dockery 
came  to  the  defense  of  the  appropriation,  and  after  he 
had  spoken,  Reed  simply  quoted  from  Byron's  Don  Juan: 

"  'Tis  sweet  to  hear  the  watchdog's  honest  bark 
Bay  deep-mouth'd  welcome  as  we  draw  near  home." 

VOL.  I — 20 


306        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

But  these  things  endeared  Reed  to  his  political 
opponents. 

One  of  the  most  singular  of  friendships  was  that  be 
tween  Reed  and  Lewis.  They  were  totally  unlike  in 
almost  everything.  Yet  Reed  liked  the  volatile,  be- 
whiskered  and  elegantly  attired  man  from  the  Pacific 
coast.  One  day  he  sent  a  page  to  Lewis  to  tell  him  the 
Speaker  wanted  to  see  him.  As  James  Hamilton 
approached  the  Speaker's  desk,  Reed  remarked : 

"Lewis,  your  politics  and  performances  in  the  House 
are  execrable,  but  your  learning  is  commendable.  Here 
is  a  letter  in  Greek  that  I  am  unable  to  translate.  I 
wish  you  would  take  it  and  see  what  you  can  do  with 
it." 

And  that  was  the  bond  between  them.  They  were 
both  scholars  and  appreciated  each  other's  erudition. 

Powerful  as  Reed  was  in  the  House,  there  were  times 
when  the  insurgents  of  his  party  by  joining  the  Demo 
crats  were  able  to  overthrow  him.  The  first  notable 
occasion  was  when  Mills  led  the  silver  forces  to  a  barren 
victory  in  the  Fifty-first  Congress.  Another  occasion 
was  during  his  last  term  as  Speaker. 

David  H.  Mercer  of  Nebraska  had  succeeded  Seth 
Milliken  of  Maine  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Public  Buildings  and  Grounds.  Mercer  originated  the 
"omnibus  public  building  bill,"  the  method  b}^  which 
every  town  in  the  country  of  any  importance  has  been 
given  a  building  by  the  Government.  Mercer's  com 
mittee  had  reported  to  the  House  a  bill  which  provided 
public  buildings  for  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 


Thomas  B.  Reed  Retires          307 

bers  of  the  House.  He  went  to  Reed  to  secure  a  special 
rule  and  time  to  consider  the  bill. 

"Dave,"  drawled  Reed,  "I  have  been  looking  into 
that  'pork  barrel,'  and  I  can't  stand  for  it.  There'll  be 
no  public  building  bill  at  this  session." 

"Generally  I'd  take  your  word  for  anything  regard 
ing  legislation,"  grinned  Mercer,  "but  in  regard  to  this 
public  building  bill  I  rely  on  my  own  judgment. 
Frankly,  Mr.  Speaker,"  and  this  more  seriously,  "if 
we  don't  get  a  couple  of  days  to  consider  and  pass  our 
bill  there  will  be  no  more  legislation  this  session  and 
the  session  will  not  adjourn." 

"Have  you  got  the  votes,  Dave?"  and  Reed  gazed 
calmly  at  the  Nebraskan. 

"Look  'em  over,"  replied  Mercer,  producing  a  paper 
which  he  handed  to  the  Speaker.  It  was  an  iron-clad 
agreement  to  stand  by  Mercer  in  every  move  he  should 
make  in  order  to  secure  the  passage  of  the  public  build 
ing  bill,  and  signed  by  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  the 
House. 

1 '  I  always  have  said, ' '  drawled  Reed, '  *  that  the  House 
had  it  in  its  power  to  do  anything  a  majority  wanted  to 
do.  What  days  do  you  suggest,  Dave,  for  this  raid  on 
the  treasury?" 

When  the  arrangements  had  been  concluded  for  con 
sideration  of  the  public  building  bill,  Reed,  with  solemn 
countenance,  turned  to  Mercer  and  remarked : 

"Dave,  your  method  of  handling  this  matter  chal 
lenges  my  admiration.  I  observe  that  you  have 
strained  your  modesty  somewhat  in  regard  to  your  own 


3°8        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

state  by  the  number  of  buildings  provided  in  this 
general  grab." 

"I  have  had  a  splendid  training  while  serving  under 
your  late  colleague,  Mr.  Milliken,"  replied  Mercer. 
"When  this  bill  passes,  Nebraska,  with  a  population 
exceeding  that  of  Maine,  will  have  seven  public  build 
ings,  and  you  will  observe  by  this  statement  from  the 
department  that  Maine  already  has  sixteen." 

He  placed  the  statement  before  the  Speaker,  who 
gazed  at  it  with  a  scowling  face. 

"The "  or  something  like  it,  was  his 

only  comment. 

The  fact  that  the  members  of  the  House  had  found 
methods  by  which  they  could  defeat  him,  and  that 
there  was  a  general  tendency  towards  insurgency  and 
independence  among  the  members,  and  that  the  drift 
of  sentiment  in  his  party  was  contrary  to  his  ideas, 
caused  Reed  to  become  moody  and  almost  ugly  during 
his  last  days  in  the  Speaker's  office.  He  was  curt  with 
the  leaders  whom  he  had  appointed  to  good  places  and 
who  now  seemed  to  desert  him,  and  he  was  rude  to  the 
leaders  of  the  insurgent  movements  which  had  been 
humiliating  to  him.  Towering  above  all  of  them,  this 
master  mind  could  not  brook  defeats,  nor  continue  in  a 
position  of  apparent  great  power,  when  he  was  menaced 
by  deprivation  of  that  power  at  any  time  his  opponents 
could  muster  a  majority  of  the  House  membership. 

He  had  a  remarkable  gift  of  memory.  I  once  heard 
him  deliver  a  speech  of  an  hour  in  length,  an  advance 
copy  of  which  had  been  furnished  to  the  press.  He 


Thomas  B.  Reed  Retires          309 

talked  rapidly  and  with  the  usual  oratorical  accessories 
and  finished  exactly  on  time.  The  House  reporters 
had  copies  of  the  speech  and  followed  him  carefully  to 
see  if  any  changes  were  necessary  for  the  Record.  Reed 
changed  only  one  word  in  the  entire  speech. 

Reed  was  the  greatest  man  in  Congress,  while  he  was 
a  member.  He  was  not  such  a  profound  lawyer  as 
David  B.  Culberson  of  Texas,  or  Ezra  Taylor  of  Ohio 
in  the  House,  nor  as  Edmunds,  Hoar,  or  George  in  the 
Senate.  He  was  not  so  great  a  lawyer  as  many  others, 
but  he  was  a  bigger  man  intellectually  and  the  greatest 
statesman  of  his  time.  No  law  bears  his  name,  but 
Reed  made  for  the  lawmakers  laws  which  are  imperish 
able. 

Senator  Charles  S.  Thomas  of  Colorado,  a  Demo 
crat,  in  urging  a  reform  of  the  rules  of  the  Senate  in  a 
speech  February  3,  1915,  paid  this  tribute  to  former 
Speaker  Reed : 

"Mr.  President,  one  of  the  greatest  men  this  country 
ever  produced  was  Thomas  B.  Reed  of  Maine.  He  was 
great  in  many  ways  and  in  many  things,  but  the  greatest 
of  all  his  accomplishments  was  his  complete  revolu 
tion  of  the  rules  of  procedure  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives.  He  there  found  a  condition  that  could  be 
well  termed  one  of  legislative  anarchy,  and  had  much 
experience  with  its  attempted  operation  through  many 
years  of  previous  service.  He  had  the  courage  and 
genius  to  confront  that  situation,  and  despite  bitter 
opposition  proceeding  from  every  quarter,  he  estab 
lished  a  system  of  rules  which  makes  it  possible  to  do 


310        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

business  in  that  body,  and  which  its  bitterest  opponents 
were  obliged  to  accept." 

Following  the  announcement  that  Reed  would  not 
be  again  a  candidate  for  Speaker,  a  number  of  Repub 
licans  became  candidates  for  the  position.  Payne  and 
Sherman  of  New  York,  Dalzell  of  Pennsylvania, 
Grosvenor  of  Ohio,  Cannon  and  Hopkins  of  Illinois, 
Henderson  of  Iowa,  and  Tawney  of  Minnesota,  became 
active  candidates  or  were  put  forward  by  their  friends. 
It  looked  as  if  there  might  be  an  old-fashioned  contest 
for  Speaker  to  be  fought  out  in  the  caucus  of  the 
Republican  members  when  Congress  assembled  in 
December. 

It  was  expected  that  the  delegations  of  New  York 
and  Illinois,  where  there  were  two  aspirants,  would 
settle  upon  one  man,  the  impression  being  that  Sher 
man  would  be  the  choice  of  New  York  and  Cannon  of 
Illinois.  Then  came  the  great  surprise.  The  Illinois 
delegation  had  a  meeting  and  Hopkins  won  over 
Cannon. 

Uncle  Joe  was  furious.  He  had  been  a  candidate  for 
Speaker  ten  years  before  and  had  tried  for  the  Senate, 
but  he  failed  to  get  further  than  the  Chairmanship  of  the 
Committee  on  Appropriations.  Soon  after  the  meeting 
of  the  Illinois  delegation  he  encountered  Hopkins. 

"Hopkins,"  he  said,  "you've  got  the  delegation,  but 
you  won't  be  Speaker.  From  your  first  appearance  in 
Congress  you  have  been  manipulating  the  Illinois 
delegation  for  yourself. 

"First  you  got  the  endorsement  of  the  Illinois  dele- 


Thomas  B.  Reed  Retires 

gation  for  a  place  on  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee. 
Every  time  there  has  been  an  election  of  United  States 
Senator  you  have  tried  to  get  the  endorsement  of  the 
Illinois  delegation  for  the  senator  ship. 

"When  Dingley  died  and  while  he  was  lying  cold  in 
the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  before  the 
funeral  started  for  his  home  to  put  him  in  the  ground, 
you  got  the  Illinois  delegation  to  endorse  you  for  Chair 
man  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  which  Ding- 
ley's  death  made  vacant.  But  you  didn't  get  the  place. 

"Now  you've  turned  and  twisted  and  got  the  en 
dorsement  of  the  Illinois  delegation  for  Speaker,  but 
mark  my  words,  Hopkins,  you  won't  be  Speaker. 
You've  only  succeeded  in  beating  me  out  of  it,  for  I 
would  be  elected  if  Illinois  presented  my  name. 

"I  suppose  you  will  continue  to  seek  the  endorse 
ment  of  the  Illinois  delegation  for  every  vacancy.  In 
side  the  pearly  gates,  perchance,  if  you  should  get  there, 
you'll  seek  the  endorsement  of  the  Illinois  delegation 
for  something,  even  if  it  should  be  a  seat  at  the  right  of 
the  Throne.  I  rather  think  you  will  be  in  the  other 
place,  seeking  the  endorsement  of  such  members  of  the 
Illinois  delegation  as  may  be  there  for  the  first  good 
place  old  Nick  has  to  offer." 

Cannon  was  right  in  his  prediction  about  Hopkins  and 
the  Speakership.  Few  of  the  other  candidates  had  any 
hope  of  success.  In  fact  they  were  taking  a  chance, 
most  of  them  believing  that  Cannon  would  be  elected. 
But  the  action  of  the  Illinois  delegation  produced  a 
sudden  change.  Hopkins  was  not  popular.  As  Asher 


312        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Hinds,  long  time  the  Speaker's  right  hand,  once  re 
marked,  ''Hopkins  gets  to  the  front,  it  must  be  by  his 
invincible  redheadness."  But  his  methods  did  not  add 
to  his  popularity. 

There  was  a  speedy  withdrawal  of  a  number  of  candi 
dates,  and  one  state  delegation  after  another  declared  for 
Henderson,  and  within  a  month  after  Reed's  announce 
ment  it  was  known  that  David  B.  Henderson  of  Iowa 
would  be  the  next  Speaker  of  the  House.  When  Con 
gress  met  no  other  name  was  presented  to  the  Repub 
lican  caucus. 

Nelson  Dingley,  Jr.,  died  during  the  term.  He  was 
Chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  and  author 
of  a  tariff  law  that  long  survived  him.  For  twelve  years 
it  remained  on  the  statute  books,  a  remarkable  record 
when  everything  is  considered.  Dingley  was  also  the 
author  of  the  War  Revenue  Act,  which  did  not  last  as 
long.  That  act  provided  for  a  duty  of  ten  cents  a  pound 
on  tea,  inserted  upon  the  urgent  insistence  of  Senator 
Tillman.  "South  Carolina  cannot  get  much  in  the 
tariff  steal,"  he  told  the  Senate,  "but  here  is  a  chance 
for  her  to  get  a  little  bit  and  she  is  going  to  grab  it." 
There  was  a  tea  plantation  in  South  Carolina,  but  the 
duty  did  not  cause  the  infant  industry  to  thrive. 

Dingley  was  one  of  the  most  industrious  men  in  the 
House.  He  worked  all  the  time  and  with  a  great  deal 
of  intelligence.  When  he  was  the  floor  leader  he  gave 
much  attention  to  the  business  of  the  House. 

"I  always  listen  to  the  first  speech  a  man  makes  in 
the  House,"  he  once  told  me,  "or  at  least  I  listen  to  the 


Thomas  B.  Reed  Retires          3J3 

first  part  of  it.  If  he  has  anything  to  say  I  follow  him 
to  the  end.  I  can  always  take  a  man's  measure  by  his 
first  speech." 

Dingley  had  no  sense  of  humor  and  on  that  account 
was  often  a  victim  of  Jerry  Simpson's  wit.  This  Popu 
list  was  keen  and  took  great  delight  in  getting  a  rise 
out  of  Dingley,  particularly  on  tariff  matters.  The 
Maine  man  nearly  always  wore  a  high  silk  hat.  At  the 
beginning  of  each  day's  session  it  reposed  for  a  time  on 
Dingley 's  desk  in  the  center  of  the  Republican  side.  If 
a  page  did  not  whisk  it  away  soon,  everybody  knew 
there  was  nothing  of  importance  in  sight  and  that 
Dingley  did  not  intend  to  remain  long.  When  it  dis 
appeared  before  the  Journal  was  read  and  the  routine 
business  cleared  away,  the  members  expected  something 
of  importance. 

One  day  Jerry  Simpson  passed  down  the  aisle  on  the 
Republican  side,  looked  into  the  Dingley  hat  and  went 
over  to  his  seat.  Soon  he  had  an  opportunity  to  get 
recognition.  He  spoke  of  Dingley 's  protective  views 
and  his  advocacy  of  building  up  home  industries. 

"But  the  gentleman  from  Maine  does  not  practice 
what  he  preaches,"  said  Simpson.  "There's  that  hat 
which  has  become  a  barometer  in  the  House.  That  hat 
was  made  by  the  pauper  labor  of  Europe.  It  bears 
the  firm  name  of  a  London  concern.  I  was  amazed 
when  I  accidentally  saw  that  English  trademark.  The 
makers  of  that  hat  claim  to  be  purveyors  of  hats  to 
royalty." 

In  vain  Dingley  tried  to  explain  that  he  had  not  in- 


3H        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

quired  the  make  of  the  hat,  but  took  that  which  fitted 
his  head.  He  was  very  much  disconcerted  by  the 
remarks  of  Simpson. 

Another  interesting  figure  in  Congress  from  New 
England  was  Joseph  H.  Walker  of  Massachusetts. 
Early  in  his  congressional  career  he  had  created  a  sen 
sation  in  the  House  one  hot  day  by  peeling  off  his  coat 
when  he  became  overheated  with  the  argument  he 
was  making. 

Walker  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Banking 
and  Currency.  That  is  a  committee  which  often  num 
bers  among  its  membership  big,  brainy  men,  constant 
and  earnest  workers,  but  has  difficulty  in  accomplishing 
results  on  account  of  disagreements  among  its  members. 
Walker  had  much  trouble  with  his  committee  and  at 
times  expressed  his  opinions  with  vigor.  One  day  he 
was  a  little  late  in  reaching  the  committee  room,  and  the 
sixteen  members  of  the  committee  were  sitting  around 
the  table,  the  chairman's  seat  alone  being  vacant. 
Walker  looked  over  the  men  for  a  moment  and  then 
broke  forth : 

"Asses!"  he  cried,  scornfully,  "sixteen  complete, 
unmitigated  asses!  And  I  am  the  seventeenth,"  he 
added,  as  he  sank  into  the  chair  at  the  head  of  the  table. 

Justin  S.  Morrill,  the  venerable  Senator  from  Vermont, 
died  before  the  Fifty-sixth  Congress  assembled.  He 
was  a  wise  and  good  man  and  served  long  in  the  House 
and  Senate.  He  was  author  of  the  homestead  law, 
one  of  the  most  beneficial  acts  ever  passed  for  the  West. 
A  tariff  long  on  the  statute  books  bore  his  name.  To 


Thomas  B.  Reed  Retires          3T5 

Senator  Merrill,  more  than  any  other  one  man,  is  the 
nation  indebted  for  the  magnificent  Library  of  Congress. 

In  his  later  years,  though  he  retained  the  Chairman 
ship  of  the  Committee  on  Finance,  Morrill  did  not 
take  a  very  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  Senate.  He 
had  a  desire,  however,  to  remain  in  the  Senate  as  long 
as  he  lived,  and  this  caused  an  unpleasant  paragraph  to 
appear  when  he  died,  which  led  to  a  disagreeable  in 
cident  in  one  of  the  Senate  elevators.  The  paragraph 
was  published  in  the  Portland  Oregonian,  which  was 
edited  by  Harvey  W.  Scott,  and  stated  that  Morrill  had 
hung  on  to  life  for  years  to  avoid  funeral  expenses. 

Soon  afterwards  Mr.  Scott  was  in  Washington,  and 
entering  the  elevator  accompanied  by  an  Oregon  Sena 
tor,  was  introduced  to  Senator  Hoar  of  Massachusetts, 
who  was  in  the  car.  Hoar  and  Morrill  were  relatives. 

"I  will  not  shake  hands  with  you,"  said  the  Massa 
chusetts  Senator,  as  Scott  held  out  his  hand.  "You 
are  the  editor  of  the  newspaper  that  published  a 
scandalous  statement  about  Senator  Morrill,"  and  he 
repeated  the  paragraph. 

"I  am  editor  of  the  Orcgonian"  replied  Scott,  "and 
while  I  never  saw  or  heard  of  that  paragraph,  I  am 
responsible.  But  I  have  no  desire  to  make  your 
acquaintance,  and  I  turn  my  back  on  you." 

And  that  is  just  what  he  did,  proceeding  on  his  way 
to  the  press  gallery. 

Stephen  M.  White  of  California  was  one  of  the 
Democratic  products  of  the  political  revolution  in  1892 
when  California  chose  a  Democratic  legislature.  He 


316        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

was  not  unknown  to  public  men,  for  he  had  twice  been 
a  Delegate  to  national  conventions.  In  1888,  the  first 
time  he  ever  was  in  the  East,  he  was  temporary  chair 
man  of  the  St.  Louis  convention. 

White  started  out  to  be  a  powerful  man  in  the  Senate, 
but  he  was  on  the  silver  side  of  the  political  situation 
in  the  contest  over  the  repeal  bill  and  he  was  out  of 
harmony  with  the  Administration. 

White  never  could  become  reconciled  to  the  Senate 
rules  and  was  one  of  the  few  at  that  time  who  advocated 
cloture.  Once  he  was  declaiming  about  the  manner  of 
doing  business. 

"We  are  working,"  he  said,  "under  these  silurian 
epigrams,  miscalled  the  rules  of  the  Senate." 

For  a  new  Senator  thus  to  speak  of  the  rules  was  a 
shock  to  the  old  Senators,  those  who  believed  in  the 
sacred  Senate  traditions,  and  who  used  and  abused  the 
rules  in  their  own  way,  enforcing  them  at  times  and 
overriding  them  at  others. 

David  S.  Turpie  of  Indiana  was  one  of  the  most  pro 
found  scholars  in  the  Senate,  of  whom  there  were 
several,  including  Davis  of  Minnesota,  Lodge  of  Massa 
chusetts,  and  Quay  of  Pennsylvania,  all  of  whom  had 
drunk  deep  at  the  fount  of  knowledge. 

Turpie  was  once  asked  if  he  had  read  Quo  Vadis,  a 
book  which  was  creating  a  great  deal  of  comment. 

"Haven't  read  the  book,  but  I  know  about  a  little 
chapel  or  shrine  just  outside  of  Rome  which  is  called 
Quo  Vadis."  Many  a  reader  of  the  book  has  been 
unable  to  trace  the  origin  of  the  name,  but  Turpie  knew. 


Thomas  B.  Reed  Retires          317 

Arthur  P.  Gorman  had  been  defeated  when  Mary 
land  went  Republican  during  the  silver  campaigns. 
Murphy  of  New  York  and  James  Smith,  Jr.,  of  New 
Jersey  had  been  famous  as  fellow  partners  with  Gor 
man  and  Brice  in  raising  the  rates  in  the  tariff  act  of 
1894. 

One  of  the  very  able  men  lost  to  the  Democrats  was 
George  Gray  of  Delaware.  In  the  twelve  years  he  had 
served  in  the  Senate  he  had  made  a  reputation  for 
honesty  and  ability  which  was  a  credit  to  him  and  an 
honor  to  his  state.  Afterwards  as  a  circuit  judge  and 
chairman  of  the  coal  strike  commission  he  rendered  the 
country  valuable  service. 

John  L.  Wilson  was  retired  from  the  Senate  in  1899. 
He  had  been  the  first  member  of  the  House  from  the 
state  of  Washington  and  was  elected  to  a  four-year 
term  in  the  Senate.  It  was  on  the  night  that  he 
ended  his  senatorial  term  that  a  fierce  struggle  was 
going  on  over  the  river  and  harbor  bill.  Senator 
Warren  of  Wyoming  had  attached  an  irrigation  project 
to  the  bill,  and  after  a  vain  attempt  to  have  the  House 
accept  it,  the  Senate  conferees  had  yielded  and  brought 
the  conference  report  back  to  the  Senate.  Warren 
started  a  filibuster  which  looked  as  if  it  might  cause  the 
defeat  of  the  bill. 

Wilson  interrupted  Warren  to  give  him  a  little  rest, 
and  took  occasion  to  make  his  farewell  speech  in  the 
Senate.  He  criticised  the  manner  in  which  the  West 
was  treated  by  the  East,  and  also  commented  on  the 
treatment  of  new  Senators  by  the  older  members  of  the 


318        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

body.     He  spoke  of  the  way  things  were  done  in  the 
Senate,  which  he  said  reminded  him  of  the  old  lines: 

The  old  goose,  thinketh,  thinketh,  thinketh, 
The  young  goose  blinketh,  blinketh,  blinketh, 

But  the  young  goose  never  knows 

What  the  old  goose  thinketh. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

INTERESTING  EVENTS   IN   CONGRESS 

Depew  and  Beveridge  in  the  Senate — Polygamist  from  Utah  Excluded 
— Matt  Quay  Loses  Senate  Seat  by  One  Vote — Famous  Clark- 
Daly  Fight  Transferred  to  Washington — Montana  Millionaires  in 
a  Battle  of  Dollars — Sam  Hauser  Injects  a  Ray  of  Humor. 

'  I  "HE  Republicans  had  a  majority  of  only  eighteen  in 
the  House  of  Representatives  in  the  Fifty-sixth 
Congress,  but  they  made  gains  in  the  Senate.  There 
were  seen  for  the  first  time  in  this  body  Chauncey  M. 
Depew  of  New  York,  Albert  J.  Beveridge  of  Indiana, 
Porter  J.  McCumber  of  North  Dakota  and  Wm.  A. 
Clark  of  Montana. 

Depew  was  the  best  known  of  all  the  new  Senators. 
Beveridge  was  the  most  interesting  character  of  the 
new  crop  and  continued  to  be  a  personality  as  long  as 
he  remained  in  the  Senate.  The  manner  of  his  election 
gives  an  idea  of  his  methods.  There  were  a  number  of 
candidates,  most  of  them  wheel-horse  Republicans  who 
had  been  members  of  the  House  or  who  had  been  for 
years  waiting  for  the  Republicans  to  gain  control  of 
Indiana  so  that  they  might  get  their  reward. 

They  all  laughed  when  they  found  that  "that  boy 
Albert  Beveridge"  had  become  a  candidate.  And 
when  he  asserted  that  he  would  be  elected  they  said  he 

319 


320        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

was  crazy.  But  Beveridge  had  campaigned  in  every 
legislative  district  in  the  state,  and  as  he  helped  each 
man  by  his  vigorous  speeches  and  paid  particular  atten 
tion  to  boosting  the  legislative  candidates,  he  gained 
their  good  will.  And  before  taking  leave  of  each  candi 
date  he  secured  a  promise  of  the  man's  support  as  a 
second  choice  if  he  were  pledged,  or  on  account  of 
locality  had  to  support  another  man  as  first  choice. 

When  the  legislature  assembled  it  was  found  that 
four  prominent  candidates  had  about  an  equal  division 
of  votes,  but  when  it  came  to  fixing  up  deals  among 
them  for  the  Senatorship  there  were  the  second  choice 
pledges  for  Beveridge  in  the  way.  In  the  end  Beve 
ridge  won.  From  that  day  forward  he  was  never  in 
accord  with  the  Republican  leaders  in  his  state. 

Right  at  the  beginning  of  the  session  there  was  an 
interesting  situation.  Brigham  H.  Roberts  came  to  the 
House  with  a  certificate  of  election  from  the  state  of  Utah, 
and  with  a  defiant  attitude  that  the  fact  that  he  had 
three  wives  sealed  to  him  by  the  rites  of  the  Mormon 
Church  was  no  reason  why  he  should  not  be  allowed  to 
take  his  seat.  But  the  membership  of  the  House  had  a 
different  notion.  When  Roberts  stood  up  to  be  sworn 
in  Robert  W.  Tayler  of  Ohio  objected,  and  he  was 
compelled  to  stand  aside  and  await  an  investigation. 

He  never  did  take  the  oath,  as  the  committe  reported 
in  favor  of  "excluding"  him,  a  new  method  of  getting 
rid  of  an  undesirable  member.  The  contest  was  be 
tween  exclusion  and  expulsion.  Minority  Leader 
Richardson  claimed  that  exclusion  was  unconstitu- 


Interesting  Events  in  Congress     321 

tional,  and  he  was  supported  by  Charles  E.  Littlefield  of 
Maine,  who  had  succeeded  Dingley.  Littlefield  made 
a  good  impression  in  the  House  and  a  reputation  which 
he  sustained  as  long  as  he  was  a  member. 

By  a  very  large  majority  Roberts  was  excluded,  and, 
strange  to  say,  many  sympathetic  comments  came  from 
women  who  were  the  most  interested  spectators  of  the 
proceedings. 

During  the  long  recess  in  1899  Senator  Beveridge, 
the  newly  elected  Senator,  dashed  off  to  the  Philippines 
and  returned  chock  full  of  a  message  to  the  American 
people  which  he  unloaded  in  the  Senate  in  a  very  in 
teresting  speech.  It  contained  much  information,  but 
the  remarkable  part  of  it  was  that,  although  it  required 
two  or  three  hours  in  delivery,  the  young  Senator 
scarcely  deviated  a  word  from  the  printed  proofs  which 
he  had  furnished  the  newspapers.  It  was  asserted  that 
Beveridge  had  spent  hours  and  hours  before  a  long 
mirror  in  his  bedroom,  arrayed  in  his  night-shirt, 
rehearsing  and  committing  to  memory  that  speech. 

Afterwards  he  was  frequently  in  the  debates.  I  was 
going  to  say  always,  for  there  was  no  method  the  elder 
statesman  could  devise  to  suppress  the  earnest  Hoosier 
Senator. 

On  one  occasion  Senator  Pettus  undertook  to  dis 
cipline  Beveridge  and  delivered  a  sarcastic  excoriation 
which  caused  the  Senators  to  break  all  rules  of  decorum 
and  laugh  often  and  heartily. 

"We  had  a  wonderful  oration  here  yesterday,"  began 
Pettus,  referring  to  a  speech  by  Beveridge,  "a  wonder- 

VOL.  I — 21 


322        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

ful  oration  from  our  great  orator — wonderful.  It  was 
marvelous  in  all  its  parts.  It  was  so  marvelous,  I  dare 
say,  that  nothing  like  it  was  ever  before  heard  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States.  When  you  get  a  genuine 
orator  he  is  utterly  absolved  from  all  rules  of  logic  and 
common  sense." 

And  so  on  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  The  venerable 
Alabama  Senator,  looking  through  his  large  spectacles, 
solemn  as  an  owl,  never  smiled,  although  there  were 
roars  of  laughter  all  around  him  as  he  proceeded. 

But  it  did  not  suppress  Beveridge.  In  fact  he  never  was 
suppressed  during  his  twelve  years  in  the  Senate.  Just 
as  I  regret  that  David  B.  Hill  and  Joseph  B.  Foraker 
could  not  have  met  and  debated  with  each  other  in  the 
Senate,  I  also  regret  that  Senator  Beveridge  and  James 
Hamilton  Lewis  could  not  have  met  in  the  same  forum. 
One  would  have  been  a  battle  of  the  giants,  the  other  a 
contest  of  game  cocks. 

There  were  two  unusually  interesting  controversies 
over  the  seats  of  Senators  during  the  year.  There  were 
no  contestants  for  the  places,  but  the  rights  to  seats  by 
the  men  with  certificates  were  disputed  and  finally  deter 
mined  against  them.  In  one  of  these  Matthew  Stanley 
Quay  was  denied  a  seat  on  the  appointment  of  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Pennsylvania  when  the  legislature  had  been 
deadlocked  by  a  few  of  his  enemies  and  there  had  been 
no  election .  Quay  lost  by  the  narrow  vote  of  thirty- three 
to  thirty-two,  and  the  pairing  of  Senator  Hanna  against 
Quay  had  far-reaching  political  consequences,  which  will 
be  related  in  another  chapter. 


Interesting  Events  in  Congress    323 

One  other  vote  was  a  great  surprise,  that  of  Senator 
Vest  of  Missouri.  Vest  and  Quay  had  been  the  closest 
of  friends  from  the  time  Quay  became  a  member  of  the 
Senate.  Vest  had  assured  Quay  and  his  friends  that, 
notwithstanding  his  interpretation  of  the  Constitution 
on  this  question,  he  was  going  to  vote  for  his  long  time 
friend.  And,  much  to  the  surprise  of  Quay  and  his 
friends,  Vest  voted  against  seating  Quay.  The  Penn- 
sylvanian  never  had  an  opportunity  to  get  even  with 
Vest,  as  the  Missouri  Senator  was  then  on  his  way  to  the 
grave. 

The  other  controversy  was  more  renowned,  though  of 
less  importance.  It  was  the  battle  of  Montana  mil 
lionaires,  and  the  spoils  were  a  seat  in  the  Senate.  It 
was  the  Clark- Daly  feud  carried  to  the  National  Capi 
tal,  and  the  shameful  use  of  money  in  elections  was 
flaunted  before  the  public  in  a  manner  to  make  the  new 
state  a  stench  in  the  nostrils  of  the  world. 

For  a  number  of  years  there  had  been  a  rivalry  be 
tween  those  mighty  mining  millionaires,  Wm.  A.  Clark 
and  Marcus  Daly.  Clark  was  a  resident  of  Butte  and 
Daly  of  Anaconda.  Once  they  had  been  friends  and 
worked  together  for  the  Democratic  party.  Then  came 
the  state  capital  fight  and  Butte  and  Anaconda  became 
rival  aspirants.  That  divided  Clark  and  Daly  and 
thereafter  they  were  sworn  enemies. 

In  the  campaign  of  1898  Clark  was  a  candidate  for 
the  Senate,  and  spent  money  lavishly  to  elect  a  legisla 
ture  favorable  to  his  candidacy.  Daly  spent  as  much  or 
more  to  defeat  him.  When  the  legislature  met  Clark 


324        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

money  was  used  freely  to  buy  votes  for  Clark  and  Daly 
money  just  as  lavishly  to  buy  votes  against  Clark.  In 
the  end  Clark  won. 

Then  Daly  carried  the  contest  to  the  Senate  and  after 
a  long  drawn  out  hearing  the  Committee  on  Privileges 
and  Elections  reported  against  Clark,  but  before  a  vote 
could  be  reached  in  the  Senate  Clark  resigned. 

There  were  a  number  of  interesting  incidents  in  con 
nection  with  the  contest  and  some  that  were  quite 
shocking.  One  day  a  constituent  of  Senator  Pettus  of 
Alabama  came  to  the  Senate  and  told  Pettus,  who  was 
a  member  of  the  committee,  that  he  wanted  to  get  in 
and  hear  the  testimony. 

"I'll  get  ye  in,  Bill,  if  ye  want  to  hear  it,"  said  the 
ancient  Senator,  gazing  over  his  spectacles  solemnly. 
"But  ye  won't  understand  anything  about  it,  Bill. 
They  don't  talk  about  anything  less  than  thousand- 
dollar  bills  in  there." 

One  witness  in  that  celebrated  case  knew  a  great 
deal  more  than  he  intended  to  tell  regarding  the  money 
spent  in  the  famous  election.  That  was  Samuel  T. 
Hauser,  one  of  the  old  Vigilantes,  Governor  in  territorial 
days,  and  one  of  the  typical  frontiersmen  who  made  the 
West.  Hauser  was  rather  ashamed  of  the  exhibition 
which  was  being  made ;  his  pride  in  Montana  was  hurt ; 
he  thought  that  a  fight  between  two  very  rich  men,  in 
which  both  played  the  same  game,  and  one  out-bought 
the  other,  should  not  have  been  dragged  before  the 
country  in  a  great  contest.  He  did  not  publicly  state 
his  opinion  of  Marcus  Daly,  who  was  opposing  Clark 


Interesting  Events  in  Congress     325 

and  whose  money  was  used  so  lavishly  to  defeat  Clark, 
and,  if  the  truth  were  known,  whose  money  was  used 
lavishly  in  Washington  to  unseat  Clark,  but  Hauser's 
privately  expressed  opinion  of  the  "Big  Irishman,"  as 
he  called  him,  was  that  Daly  was  a  "squealer,"  a  man 
"who  wouldn't  stand  the  gaff,"  one  who  "put  his 
money  on  the  table  and  made  an  open  bet,  but  hollered 
when  he  lost." 

Consequently  Hauser  told  as  little  as  he  could  to  the 
committee,  but  he  was  picturesque.  He  frequently 
used  western  terms  and  the  frontier  language  of  politics, 
and  it  was  very  difficult  at  times  for  the  classical  Sena 
tor  Hoar  to  understand  him.  After  Hauser  had  told  of 
his  conversation  with  Clark  and  his  efforts  to  "knock 
out  the  boss  Irishman,"  in  order  to  help  his  own  city 
of  Helena,  he  said  that  he  advised  Clark  to  talk  with 
his  confidential  men. 

"It  was  my  idea,"  he  said,  "that  if  I  could  get  Clark 
to  loosen  up  we  could  stand  Daly  off." 

"Get  Clark  to  do  what?"  asked  Senator  Hoar  in  his 
high-pitched,  querulous  voice. 

"Loosen  up,"  replied  Hauser. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  'loosen  up? ' "  asked  Senator 
Burrows  of  Michigan,  who  knew  perfectly  well,  but 
wanted  to  enlighten  the  Massachusetts  Senator. 

"He  is  a  very  close  business  man,"  explained  old 
Sam,  and  his  eyes  twinkled,  and  there  were  nods  of 
acquiescence  among  the  many  Montana  men  present, 
"and  he  does  not  like  to  let  go,  and  campaigning  in  that 
country  is  very  expensive." 


326        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Hauser  continued  after  one  or  two  interruptions :  ' '  I 
do  not  want  to  give  my  people  away,  but  then,  I  will  do 
it.  I  went  to  see  Clark  and  sat  up  with  him  until  3 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  I  told  him  that  instead  of 
spending  his  money  in  fine  houses  and  pictures  in  New 
York,  he  ought  to  spend  it  in  Montana  and  help  us  out 
and  help  him.  I  told  him  I  thought  we  could  elect 
him  Senator.  He  with  his  careful  business  habits 
wanted  to  know  how  much  it  would  cost,  and  I  told  him 
$40,000  to  $60,000,  after  the  primaries  for  legitimate 
election  expenses." 

Hauser  was  asked  to  give  an  idea  of  the  cost  of  poli 
tical  campaigns  in  Montana. 

"Well,"  he  replied,  "since  Daly  and  Clark  got  into 
the  game  in  later  years,  it  has  been  a  pretty  healthy 
amount." 

"Do  you  mean  to  say,  Governor  Hauser,"  asked 
Senator  Hoar  with  incredulity,  "that  you  would  need  a 
fund  of  $60,000  in  a  senatorial  campaign?" 

"Just  as  a  starter,  Senator,  just  as  a  starter,"  blandly 
replied  Hauser.  "Why,  in  our  first  campaign  the  Big 
Four  started  it  with  $150,000." 

"Who  are  the  Big  Four?"  asked  Senator  Hoar. 

"Colonel  Broadwater,  Marcus  Daly,  William  A. 
Clark,  and  a  fellow  by  the  name  of  Hauser,"  was 
the  reply. 

Very  nearly  every  man  of  prominence  in  the  Demo 
cratic  party  in  Montana,  and  not  a  few  Republicans, 
were  drawn  into  this  contest  between  the  men  of 
millions.  It  was  not  a  nice  story.  It  was  of  no  credit 


Interesting  Events  in  Congress     327 

to  either  side,  this  battle  between  giants  of  cash,  over  a 
seat  in  the  Senate. 

Afterwards  when  Clark  came  back  without  any  con 
test  the  recollection  of  the  stories  told  by  witnesses  of 
vast  expenditures  hung  over  him  and  to  a  great  extent 
destroyed  his  usefulness,  although  he  proved  a  hard 
working  and  industrious  Senator,  carefully  attending 
to  the  work  of  the  various  committees  on  which  he 
served. 

Clark  tried  his  best  to  make  up  for  the  past,  to 
be  popular  with  his  fellow  Senators,  and  as  a  patron 
of  art  to  make  a  place  for  himself.  He  gave  dinners 
and  in  many  ways  spent  his  money.  But  he  just 
missed  it.  He  didn't  quite  know  how,  and  he  never 
got  over  the  days  when  frugality  was  an  important 
feature  of  his  daily  life.  Hence  he  is  not  remem 
bered  in  Washington  for  his  industry  as  a  Senator,  his 
good  fellowship,  his  contributions  to  the  art  world,  but 
as  one  of  two  Montana  money  kings  who  battled  with 
dollars  over  a  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

ROOSEVELT   FOR   VICE   PRESIDENT 

Quay's  Desire  for  Revenge  Greatest  Factor  in  Nominating  Rough 
Rider  for  Second  Place  on  the  Ticket  with  McKinley— Mark 
Hanna  in  a  Rage  Calls  Roosevelt  a  Madman — Anti-Imperialism 
Becomes  the  Paramount  Issue  at  Bryan's  Second  Nomination — 
Campaign  of  1900  without  Incident. 

FNURING  the  early  part  of  1900,  before  there  had 
been  much  political  discussion,  Governor  Theo 
dore  Roosevelt  of  New  York  came  to  Washington  and 
mingled  with  his  many  friends.  I  met  him  in  the  corri 
dor  of  the  Senate,  looking  just  a  little  more  like  a  states 
man  than  in  former  days,  due  to  his  apparel  rather  than 
his  manner. 

"How  do  you  like  your  new  job?"  I  asked. 

"It's  a  bully  job;  a  man's  sized  job,"  he  responded. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  Hanna  did  not  like  Roose 
velt  the  President  thought  he  was  a  man  worth  culti 
vating.  The  great  popularity  of  Roosevelt  in  the  West 
had  been  demonstrated  when  he  made  a  trip  to  attend 
the  reunion  of  the  Rough  Riders  in  New  Mexico.  At 
one  place  in  Kansas  an  enthusiast  had  proclaimed  a 
Roosevelt  and  Funston  ticket  in  1904.  Roosevelt  had 
taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  off-year  campaign  in 
Ohio  and  Maryland  in  1899.  In  Ohio  he  vigorously 
opposed  the  election  of  John  R.  McLean,  who  was  the 

328 


Roosevelt  for  Vice  President      329 

Democratic  candidate  for  Governor.  He  also  took  occa 
sion  in  his  first  Ohio  speech  to  nominate  McKinley  for  a 
second  term. 

McKinley  was  not  unmindful  of  the  prominence  and 
popularity  of  the  New  York  Governor.  He  invited 
Roosevelt  to  become  a  guest  at  the  White  House  for 
the  announced  purpose  of  consulting  him  upon  various 
matters  relating  to  the  Army,  notably  promotions  and 
the  selection  of  officers  for  the  regiments  then  being 
organized. 

Through  it  all  could  be  seen  the  McKinley  viewpoint. 
He  knew  that  there  was  only  one  man  in  the  United 
States  who  could  possibly  prevent  his  nomination  in 
1900.  That  man  was  Theodore  Roosevelt.  He  wanted 
the  support  and  friendship  of  the  New  York  Governor. 
Mark  Hanna  was  not  the  only  politician  in  the  Republi 
can  party.  William  McKinley  knew  a  lot  about  the 
game. 

As  the  Vice  Presidency  was  the  only  question  to  be 
settled  at  the  Republican  national  convention  it  was 
natural  that  many  names  should  be  mentioned,  but 
Roosevelt  continued  to  be  the  favorite  of  most  of  those 
who  expressed  an  opinion.  Early  in  February  the  talk 
became  so  general  that  Governor  Roosevelt  issued  a 
statement  from  the  executive  offices  in  Albany  in  which 
he  said  he  wanted  to  continue  as  Governor  of  New 
York,  and  closed  with  this  emphatic  declaration : 

"It  is  proper  for  me  to  state  that  under  no  circum 
stances  could  I,  or  would  I.  accept  the  nomination  for 
the  Vice  Presidency." 


330        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

In  giving  out  the  statement  he  added,  verbally : 

"And  I  am  happy  to  state  that  Senator  Platt  cor 
dially  acquiesces  in  my  views  in  this  matter." 

When  on  another  visit  to  Washington  he  reiterated 
his  aversion  to  becoming  Vice  President,  saying  that  he 
was  not  fitted  for  the  position. 

Very  little  interest  was  taken  in  the  conventions  of 
1900.  It  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that  McKinley  was 
to  be  nominated  for  a  second  term  and  Bryan  for  a 
second  time.  These  men  would  make  the  platforms 
and,  in  a  general  way,  everybody  knew  what  the  plat 
form  would  be.  It  was  also  assumed  that  they  would 
select  or  approve  the  nominees  for  Vice  President, 
hence  it  was  understood  that  the  Delegates  would 
simply  ratify  whatever  was  handed  them  by  the 
managers. 

But  to  the  surprise  of  everybody  there  was  a  contest 
in  the  Republican  party  at  the  Philadelphia  conven 
tion.  The  man  who  was  an  exception  to  all  rules  in 
politics — and  everything  else — was  the  exception  at 
Philadelphia,  and  was  nominated  for  Vice  President 
against  the  wishes  of  McKinley  and  over  the  most 
violent  protests  of  Hanna. 

Roosevelt  was  Governor  of  New  York  and  wanted 
to  continue  in  that  position.  He  was  seeking  a  re- 
nomination  at  the  time  the  convention  met.  Senator 
Thomas  C.  Platt  and  the  Republican  organization  in 
New  York  wanted  to  get  rid  of  him  as  Governor; 
they  did  not  want  another  two  years  of  Roosevelt  in 
the  Governor's  office.  The  delegation  was  under  the 


Roosevelt  for  Vice  President      33 1 

control  of  Platt.  Ben.  B.  Odell,  one  of  Platt's  lieuten 
ants,  wanted  to  be  Governor.  Timothy  L.  Woodruff 
was  Lieutenant  Governor  of  New  York  and  wanted  to 
be  the  Vice  Presidential  nominee.  The  New  York 
organization  had  given  him  a  partial  promise  of  support 
for  that  position. 

Woodruff  had  achieved  more  notoriety  on  account 
of  wearing  brilliant  and  vari-colored  waistcoats  than 
fame  as  a  statesman.  Hanna's  comment  on  his 
candidacy  was  characteristic : 

"We  are  not  going  through  this  campaign,"  said  the 
Senator,  "with  a  highly  colored  vest  as  the  tail  of  the 
ticket." 

The  key  to  the  Vice  Presidential  situation  was  held 
by  Matt.  Quay  of  Pennsylvania.  He  and  Platt  nomi 
nated  Roosevelt  for  that  office.  Without  Quay,  Platt 
could  not  have  succeeded;  without  Platt's  assistance 
Quay  would  not  have  been  able  to  carry  out  his  own 
plans  and  accomplish  a  vengeance  for  which  he  thirsted 
with  all  his  intense  nature.  Quay's  personal  resent 
ment  against  Marcus  A.  Hanna  was  the  real  cause  of 
Roosevelt's  selection.  Hanna  did  not  consent  to  the 
nomination  until  it  was  beyond  his  power  to  prevent  it. 

Matt.  Quay,  long  the  boss  of  the  Republican  party 
in  Pennsylvania,  had  been  twice  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate  and  in  1899  was  a  candidate  for  the  third 
time.  He  easily  carried  the  majority  of  the  Republicans 
in  the  legislature,  but  a  faction  opposed  to  him  held 
aloof  after  he  had  been  nominated  by  the  caucus  and 
with  the  Democrats  deadlocked  the  legislature,  pre- 


332         From  Harrison  to  Harding 

venting  an  election.  The  Governor  of  Pennsylvania 
appointed  Quay  to  the  vacant  seat,  but  time  after  time 
the  Senate  had  refused  to  admit  any  man  appointed  to 
a  term  when  the  legislature  failed  to  elect.  In  the  ten 
years  previous  to  Quay's  appointment  at  least  half  a 
dozen  men  had  been  refused  admission  under  the  same 
conditions. 

But  Quay  believed  he  could  win  where  others  had 
failed.  He  was  very  popular  in  the  Senate.  Although 
an  intense  Republican,  he  had  many  warm  personal 
friends  on  the  Democratic  side.  The  fact  that  he  had 
helped  to  sidetrack  the  force  bill  in  1891  created  a  very 
kindly  feeling  for  him  among  southern  Senators.  His 
long  service  for  the  Republican  party  he  felt  entitled 
him  to  consideration  on  that  side  of  the  Senate,  particu 
larly  as  the  opposition  which  caused  the  bolt  against 
him  was  largely  of  a  personal  character.  Quay  was 
right  to  a  certain  extent.  Men  who  had  always 
voted  against  admitting  Senators  appointed  by  the 
governor  when  legislatures  had  failed  to  elect,  changed 
sides  and  supported  Quay  on  personal  grounds. 

The  vote  was  very  close.  Quay  lacked  one  vote  of 
being  seated.  Mark  Hanna  was  responsible  for  that 
vote.  Hanna  had  never  been  called  upon  to  vote  on 
that  question  during  his  short  service  in  the  Senate,  and 
it  was  supposed  that  he  did  not  have  enough  conscien 
tious,  constitutional,  or  other  kind  of  scruples  to  pre 
vent  him  from  voting  in  another  Republican  Senator. 
He  did  not  vote,  but  he  paired  against  Quay,  which  had 
the  same  effect.  Had  he  paired  for  Quay  the  Penn- 


Roosevelt  for  Vice  President      333 

sylvania  man  would  have  been  seated  instead  of  being 
returned  to  private  life  for  two  years. 

Quay  was  a  good  deal  of  an  Indian.  He  was  not  only 
a  friend  of  the  red  men,  but  he  often  had  delegations 
of  Indians  at  his  home,  had  been  initiated  into  the 
mysteries  of  some  of  the  Indian  rites  and  had  been 
adopted  into  tribes.  In  fact  it  had  been  asserted  that 
he  was  of  Indian  descent,  and  it  is  claimed  that  he  was 
of  the  Abenaki  tribe  of  Quebec.  This  is  stated  on  a 
marble  tablet  in  the  Abenaki  Indian  church  on  the  St. 
Francis  River  in  the  Province  of  Quebec.  The  tablet 
was  placed  in  the  church  in  honor  of  Quay.  There  is 
in  the  home  of  a  missionary  priest  at  the  reservation  a 
life-sized  portrait  of  Quay  in  the  costume  of  an  Abenaki 
war  chieftain  and  a  letter  from  Quay  in  which  he  styles 
himself  as  such  a  chieftain.  It  may  have  been  that  this 
was  one  of  the  bands  of  his  adoption.  At  all  events  he 
had  the  nature  of  the  Indian  for  getting  even  with  those 
who  had  crossed  him.  Hanna  by  that  vote  in  the 
Senate  made  a  lasting  enemy  of  Quay. 

Quay's  opportunity  came  in  1900  at  the  Philadelphia 
convention.  The  nomination  of  McKinley  was  a  fore 
gone  conclusion.  The  only  contest  was  over  the  selec 
tion  of  a  candidate  for  Vice  President.  John  D.  Long 
of  Massachusetts,  then  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  who  had 
served  with  McKinley  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
was  the  choice  of  the  President  as  his  running  mate. 
Hanna  had  mildly  acquiesced  in  this,  but  his  real  choice 
was  Cornelius  N.  Bliss,  treasurer  of  the  Republican  na 
tional  committee,  who  was  in  closer  touch  with  those 


334        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

business  interests  dear  to  the  Hanna  heart  than  any 
other  man.  But  the  difference  between  Platt  and  Bliss 
in  New  York  made  his  selection  impossible.  The  whole 
New  York  delegation,  with  a  few  exceptions,  were  op 
posed  to  Bliss,  but  Hanna  would  have  crowded  him 
down  their  throats  if  he  could  have  controlled  enough 
votes  to  do  it. 

Quay  found  Tom  Platt  anxious  to  get  rid  of  Roosevelt 
in  New  York.  He  also  knew  that  of  all  men  in  public 
life  Roosevelt  was  the  most  obnoxious  to  Hanna.  Roose 
velt  while  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  previous  to 
the  Spanish  war,  had  publicly  and  privately  defied 
Hanna,  and  did  his  best  to  force  the  war  in  spite  of  the 
efforts  of  Hanna  and  McKinley  to  prevent  it.  Roose 
velt  had  often  expressed  his  contempt  of  the  Hanna 
methods. 

Quay  knew  about  this  state  of  feeling,  and  when  he 
found  Platt  anxious  to  get  rid  of  Roosevelt  he  was  more 
than  ready  to  cooperate  with  him.  The  agreement 
between  these  two  men  meant  two  of  the  largest  dele 
gations  in  the  convention  for  Roosevelt .  B esides,  there 
were  many  western  men  who  admired  the  dashing 
Rough  Rider,  the  man  who  had  carried  New  York  for 
Governor,  and  they  felt  that  he  would  add  great 
strength  to  the  ticket. 

As  these  facts  came  to  Hanna  they  set  him  in  a  rage. 
One  day  before  the  convention  met  I  was  in  his  private 
room  waiting  to  see  him.  Henry  C.  Payne  was  there. 
The  Wisconsin  member  of  the  national  committee  had 
come  from  the  room  where  the  national  committee  was 


Roosevelt  for  Vice  President       335 

passing  upon  contested  seats  from  southern  states  to 
see  what  Hanna  wanted  done  about  a  certain  set  of 
Delegates.  Hanna  was  in  the  telephone  booth  talking 
to  McKinley  in  Washington. 

He  came  out  of  the  booth  in  a  towering  passion.  In 
reply  to  Payne's  question  he  replied,  hotly: 

"Do  whatever  you  damn  please!  I'm  through!  I 
won't  have  anything  more  to  do  with  the  convention ! 
I  won't  take  charge  of  the  campaign!  I  won't  be 
chairman  of  the  national  committee  again!" 

"Why,  what's  the  matter?"  asked  Payne. 

' '  Matter ! ' '  shouted  Hanna.  ' '  Matter !  Why,  every 
body 's  gone  crazy !  What  is  the  matter  with  all  of  you  ? 
Here's  this  convention  going  headlong  for  Roosevelt 
for  Vice  President.  Don't  any  of  you  realize  that 
there's  only  one  life  between  that  madman  and  the 
Presidency?  Platt  and  Quay  are  no  better  than 
idiots!  What  harm  can  he  do  as  Governor  of  New 
York  compared  to  the  damage  he  will  do  as  President  if 
McKinley  should  die?" 

"You  control  the  convention,"  said  Payne,  "why 
don't  you  nominate  another  man?" 

* '  I  am  not  in  control ! ' '  shouted  Hanna.  ' '  McKinley 
won't  let  me  use  the  power  of  the  Administration  to 
defeat  Roosevelt.  He  is  blind,  or  afraid,  or  some 
thing!" 

Hanna  wanted  authority  from  McKinley  to  make 
use  of  patronage  and  promises  of  patronage  to  bring 
the  convention  to  terms.  A  large  number  of  Delegates 
were  Federal  office  holders  and  a  majority  interested 


336        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

in  office-holding.  Hanna  would  not  have  scrupled 
to  have  informed  each  one  of  them  that  his  office 
or  his  influence  at  the  White  House  depended  upon 
his  voting  against  Roosevelt  for  Vice  President. 
But  McKinley  would  not  stand  for  any  such  methods. 
One  of  his  emissaries  from  Washington  was  General 
Henry  C.  Corbin.  Corbin  was  a  politician  as  well  as 
an  army  officer.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Philadelphia 
he  told  Hanna  that  McKinley  did  not  want  to  force  the 
convention  against  its  will  in  the  matter  of  the  Vice 
Presidency.  Emissaries  of  Platt  and  Quay  had  been 
sent  to  see  McKinley,  and  told  him  that  even  his  own 
nomination  was  being  endangered  by  Hanna's  attitude 
in  opposing  the  will  of  the  convention,  as  the  Delegates 
evidently  favored  the  selection  of  Roosevelt  who  was  a 
popular  war  hero. 

McKinley  was  of  that  temperament  which  likes  best 
to  follow  the  lines  of  least  resistance.  He  was  just 
a  little  timid,  too,  and  he  did  not  want  to  do  anything 
that  would  prevent  his  unanimous  choice  for  a  second 
term  in  the  convention,  or  endanger  his  election.  A 
revolt  in  favor  of  Roosevelt  for  first  place  he  regarded 
as  a  dangerous  possibility.  Consequently,  he  would  not 
give  Hanna  authority  to  make  promises  and  pledges  in 
his  name  to  prevent  the  nomination  of  Roosevelt  for 
Vice  President. 

And  that  accounted  for  Hanna's  outbreak  and  asser 
tion  that  he  would  not  run  the  campaign  if  he  was 
thwarted,  and  forced  to  accept  Roosevelt  as  Vice 
President. 


Roosevelt  for  Vice  President       337 

While  all  this  was  going  on  Roosevelt  was  having  a 
"bully  time."  He  was  the  central  figure  of  the  big 
show.  He  was  one  of  the  delegates-at-large  from  New 
York,  but,  although  he  was  Governor  he  controlled  only 
one  vote  in  the  delegation.  He  had  obtained  a  promise 
from  Platt  that  the  vote  of  New  York  should  not  be 
cast  for  him  for  Vice  President  without  his  consent. 
Platt  had  to  go  that  far  as  Roosevelt  might  have  re 
volted,  and  absolutely  refused  the  nomination,  which 
would  have  left  him  on  New  York's  hands  as  Gover 
nor  for  another  two  years. 

"Why  do  they  want  to  get  rid  of  you?"  I  asked  him 
soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  New  York  delegation. 

"They  all  want  to  get  rid  of  me,"  he  grinned;  "all 
factions  in  New  York  are  for  once  thoroughly  in  accord ; 
they  want  to  get  me  out  of  the  state.  I  am  too  inde 
pendent  to  suit  the  machine  and  too  much  of  an 
organization  man  to  suit  the  mugwumps." 

Roosevelt  protested  against  having  the  Vice  Presi 
dential  nomination  thrust  upon  him.  On  one  occasion 
he  swept  into  a  room  at  his  headquarters  where  a  score 
of  his  friends  were  assembled,  and  in  his  usual  emphatic 
manner  told  them  he  was  not  going  to  be  forced  to 
take  a  place  on  a  shelf  at  the  behest  of  any  political 
boss.  "I  am  not  going  to  be  tucked  away  on  the  Vice 
Presidential  shelf  simply  to  satisfy  the  bosses,"  he  as 
serted.  After  Roosevelt  retired,  half  a  dozen  would-be 
keepers  of  this  impetuous  person  expressed  their  fervent 
gratitude  that  Governor  Roosevelt  was  not  going  to 
commit  political  suicide. 


VOL.  I — 22 


338        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

" Political  suicide?"  remarked  Lodge,  with  a  rising 
inflection.  "I  cannot  imagine  any  more  effective 
method  of  accomplishing  such  a  result  than  by  declining 
a  nomination  for  the  second  highest  office  in  the  land 
when  tendered  by  the  Republican  party." 

Finally,  Roosevelt  issued  a  statement  saying  he  did 
not  want  the  nomination,  but  wanted  to  be  Governor  of 
New  York  another  term,  and  closed  with  the  appeal: 
"I  earnestly  ask  that  every  man  in  the  convention 
respect  my  wishes." 

Immediately  every  man  went  out  and  began  to  hustle 
for  Roosevelt.  Jim  Sherman  and  Lucius  Littauer  of 
New  York  were  in  Roosevelt's  room  at  the  time,  and  as 
soon  as  they  received  a  copy  of  the  statement  they 
rushed  out  and  sought  a  secluded  place  to  read  it  care 
fully.  I  came  upon  them  as  they  finished,  and  they 
were  chuckling. 

"What  do  you  think,  Jim?"  asked  Littauer. 

"Why,  it's  a  cinch,"  replied  Sherman.  "Of  course 
he'll  take  it.  All  we've  got  to  do  is  go  ahead  and 
nominate  him." 

That  night  the  New  York  delegation  held  a  caucus 
to  decide  on  the  Vice  Presidency.  Woodruff  was  still 
a  candidate,  but  nobody  thought  for  a  moment  that 
he  would  be  nominated.  His  candidacy  was  a  joke. 
Roosevelt  went  into  the  caucus,  and  at  the  first  men 
tion  of  his  name  he  asserted  that  he  had  the  promise 
of  the  state  leader  that  he  was  not  to  be  nomi 
nated  without  his  (Roosevelt's)  consent.  "I  have  not 
consented,"  he  said,  "and  I  am  going  to  see  whether 


Roosevelt  for  Vice  President       339 

this  delegation  is  going  to  go  back  on  the  pledge  given 
to  me." 

Platt  was  not  there,  but  his  lieutenants  knew  of  the 
promise,  and  wisely  refrained  from  forcing  things.  Then 
they  gave  "three  rousing  cheers"  for  Tim  Woodruff, 
and  adjourned. 

I  went  to  see  the  Governor  after  the  meeting  of  the 
delegation,  and  found  him  in  high  feather. 

"New  York  is  still  for  Woodruff  for  Vice  President," 
he  said,  in  his  high  falsetto. 

"But  you  are  going  to  be  nominated  by  the  conven 
tion,"  I  remarked. 

"Maybe  so,"  he  said  between  snapping  teeth;  "may 
be  so.  But  I  stood  the  New  York  machine  on  its  head 
to-night!"  he  shouted,  gleefully. 

There  were  a  number  of  men  who  wanted  the  nomina 
tion  for  Vice  President.  Senator  Stephen  B.  Elkins  of 
West  Virgina  was  one.  But  Elkins  was  then  a  past- 
boss,  with  no  power  outside  of  his  own  state.  He  be 
longed  to  the  old  Blaine  days.  Hanna  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  his  candidacy. 

Long  had  the  Massachusetts  delegation  and  other 
New  England  Delegates  in  a  perfunctory  sort  of  a  way. 
Senator  Lodge  was  the  leader,  but  he  knew  that  Long 
could  not  be  nominated,  and  Lodge  never  enjoyed  being 
on  a  dead  card. 

One  afternoon  Lodge  lay  stretched  out  on  a  bed  in 
Roosevelt's  room,  where  he  had  been  smoking  a  cigar, 
and  listening  to  the  gossip.  At  length  he  arose  and 
rather  languidly,  remarked : 


34°        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

"Well,  I  suppose  I  must  go  out,  and  for  a  time  be 
loyal  to  John  D.  Long." 

To  Lodge  Long's  candidacy  was  so  ridiculous  that  he 
could  not  refrain  from  poking  fun  at  it  when  among  his 
close  friends. 

Jonathan  P.  Dolliver,  then  a  Representative  from 
Iowa,  and  afterwards  Senator,  was  considered.  "You 
can't  transfer  the  Long  delegates  from  New  England 
to  Iowa  without  dropping  quite  a  number  of  them  in 
New  York  on  the  way,"  said  the  sagacious  Lodge. 

Hanna  objected  to  Dolliver  because  he  said  Dolliver 
had  charged  $100  for  each  speech  he  delivered  in  the 
campaign  of  1896.  Hanna  said  he  wanted  no  man  for 
Vice  President  who  had  to  be  paid  for  party  work. 
Dolliver  was  not  anxious  for  the  place  and  only  in  the 
later  stages  of  the  convention  did  he  consent  to  the  use 
of  his  name.  Lafe  Young  of  Iowa  prepared  a  speech 
nominating  Dolliver,  which  he  afterwards  changed  to  a 
speech  nominating  Roosevelt. 

Senator  Fairbanks  was  the  choice  of  Indiana  and  of 
many  McKinley  men  for  Vice  President,  but  he  was  not 
then  anxious  for  the  place  he  consented  to  take  four 
years  later. 

Matt  Quay  played  his  trump  card  in  the  convention. 
The  committee  on  rules  and  order  of  business  reported. 
Its  report  was  largely  perfunctory,  and  was  going 
through  without  question  when  Quay  asked  to  have 
excepted  from  the  report  the  rule  providing  that  the 
Delegates  to  the  next  convention  should  be  elected  in 
the  same  manner  as  heretofore.  The  balance  of  the 


Roosevelt  for  Vice  President       341 

report  was  then  adopted  without  opposition,  and  Quay 
offered  an  amendment,  largely  reducing  southern  repre 
sentation  in  the  next  convention.  This  caused  a  great 
commotion  among  the  southerners,  as,  coming  from 
Quay,  it  meant  business. 

Quay  had  his  amendment  go  over  until  the  next  day, 
and  the  convention  soon  after  adjourned. 

Then  there  was  a  scurrying  and  hustling  among  the 
southern  Delegates. 

"What  does  Quay  mean?"  queried  some,  while  the 
more  sagacious  asked:  "What  does  Quay  want?" 

Hanna  was  appealed  to,  and  assured  the  southern 
Delegates  that  there  was  no  possibility  of  Quay's  amend 
ment  going  through.  But  McKinley  did  not  want  any 
such  issue  raised.  Every  Republican  nominee  for 
President  has  avoided  that  issue,  fearing  the  effect  it 
would  have  in  states  where  the  negroes  hold  the  balance 
of  power,  and  could  defeat  a  candidate. 

Finally,  the  word  went  forth  from  Quay's  rooms  to 
the  leaders  of  the  southern  Delegates. 

* '  Get  your  state  delegations  together  and  declare  for 
Roosevelt  for  Vice  President,"  was  the  Quay  message, 
and  it  acted  like  magic.  What  did  those  southerners 
care  about  the  Vice  Presidency?  Their  big  power  in 
national  conventions  was  too  valuable  an  asset  to  be 
lost.  State  after  state,  or  the  leaders  who  controlled 
them,  met  and  pledged  the  Delegates  for  Roosevelt. 

That  move  broke  Hanna's  control.  He  surrendered. 
That  evening  he  called  in  the  newspaper  men,  and,  as  if 
he  were  announcing  an  important  piece  of  news,  or  a 


342        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

great  discovery,  told  them  that  after  much  considera 
tion  it  had  been  found  that  an  overwhelming  sentiment 
had  developed  for  Governor  Roosevelt  for  Vice  President, 
and  that  he  would  be  nominated  without  opposition. 

When  the  convention  met  the  next  morning,  Quay  rose 
and  in  his  thin,  almost  inaudible,  voice,  withdrew  his 
amendment  to  the  rules  amid  applause  from  the  south 
ern  states.  And  there  was  not  a  sign,  not  the  move 
ment  of  a  muscle  of  his  face,  which  indicated  that  he 
had  revenged  himself  on  Hanna  for  that  vote  which 
prevented  him  from  taking  a  seat  in  the  Senate. 

Everything  was  then  set  for  the  perfunctory  work  of 
the  convention.  The  platform,  which  interested  no 
body,  was  adopted.  Senator  Foraker  again  placed 
McKinley  in  nomination,  and  he  received  every  vote 
in  the  convention.  Roosevelt  was  then  nominated  by 
Lafe  Young  and  seconded  by  Chauncey  Depew,  and 
received  every  vote  in  the  convention  save  one.  He 
modestly  refrained  from  voting  for  himself.  Hanna 
was  again  made  chairman  of  the  national  committee, 
and  the  Republicans  went  forward  confident  of  an 
other  victory. 

By  long  distance  telephone,  and  by  exercising  the 
domination  over  the  Democratic  party  that  was  his 
for  twenty  years,  William  J.  Bryan  forced  a  silver  de 
claration  in  the  platform  of  1900,  but  the  convention 
made  the  retention  of  the  Philippines  and  imperialism 
"the  paramount  issue"  of  the  campaign. 

The  fight  of  Bryan  for  silver  was  one  of  the  interest 
ing  features  of  the  convention.  He  threatened  that  he 


Roosevelt  for  Vice  President      343 

would  not  accept  the  nomination  if  there  was  not  a  dis 
tinct  declaration  for  silver.  He  would  not  be  satisfied 
with  a  simple  reaffirmation  of  the  Chicago  platform  of 
1896,  but  insisted  upon,  and  secured,  a  straight  declara 
tion.  After  a  long  struggle  this  victory  was  attained  by 
the  vote  of  the  Hawaiian  member  of  the  committee  on 
resolutions,  who  changed  his  vote  at  the  earnest  solicita 
tion  of  the  Bryan  men. 

It  is  rather  an  anomaly  of  our  national  conventions 
that  in  the  decisions  upon  the  seating  of  Delegates,  in 
votes  upon  platform,  and  all  other  important  matters 
in  committees,  the  vote  of  Hawaii,  or  any  other  of  the 
outlying  possessions,  has  as  much  weight  as  New  York, 
or  any  one  of  the  great  states. 

Well,  Bryan  got  his  free  silver  declaration.  In  read 
ing  the  platform  to  the  convention  Ben  Tillman  touched 
silver  very  lightly,  but  came  out  strong  on  the  plank 
against  imperialism,  "the  paramount  issue  of  the  cam 
paign,"  and  then  paused  while  the  crowd  rent  the  air 
with  cheers.  Then  he  read  it  over  again.  When 
Bryan  went  on  the  stump  he  took  his  cue  from  the  con 
vention  and  made  ' '  the  paramount  issue ' '  the  historical 
feature  of  the  campaign. 

The  Vice  Presidency  was  quite  a  long  time  in  doubt. 
William  Sulzer  of  New  York  was  an  active  candidate, 
and  told  his  visitors  from  day  to  day  how  pledges  were 
increasing  the  number  of  his  Delegates.  He  anxiously 
awaited  the  arrival  of  Dick  Croker,  who  he  hoped 
would  give  the  word  to  support  Sulzer.  But  when  the 
Tammany  boss  reached  Kansas  City,  he  said : 


344        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

" Bryan  and  Sulzer!  Huh!  How  long  before  every 
body  would  be  saying:  'Brandy  and  Seltzer'?  Bill 
Sulzer  for  Vice  President?  It's  a  joke."  That  ended 
the  Sulzer  boom. 

A  few  days  before  the  convention  met,  when  the  only 
subject  of  newspaper  gossip  was  about  the  Vice  Presi 
dency  I  talked  with  Ben.  F.  Shively  of  Indiana  who  had 
been  mentioned.  Shively  explained  why  he  could  not 
be  nominated,  and  could  not  accept.  He  did  not  want 
the  glory  of  a  defeat  as  a  Vice  Presidential  candidate. 

"I've  got  to  get  up  a  story  on  the  Vice  Presidency,"  I 
said,  and  added:  "I  believe  I'll  write  a  piece  about  old 
Uncle  Adlai." 

"That's  a  good  idea,"  said  Shively.  "Stevenson  is 
just  the  man.  There  you  have  it.  Uniting  the  old 
Cleveland  element  with  the  new  Bryan  Democracy. 
You've  got  enough  for  one  story.  But  say,  this  is  more 
than  a  joke.  Stevenson  is  just  the  man." 

During  the  day  I  heard  other  statements  favorable 
to  Stevenson,  and  by  night  had  a  story  which  made  the 
man  who  was  elected  with  Cleveland  in  1892  quite  a 
prominent  figure  among  the  probabilities.  And  finally 
he  was  the  only  man  considered.  No  one  was  very 
anxious  to  be  the  tail  of  what  they  considered  was  a 
forlorn  hope  ticket. 

The  manner  in  which  David  B.  Hill  was  forced  to 
take  a  back  seat  at  the  convention  in  1900  was  one  of  the 
interesting  features  of  the  gathering.  He  was  the 
leader  of  the  gold  forces  in  1896,  a  member  of  the  com 
mittee  on  resolutions,  and  in  control  of  the  New  York 


Roosevelt  for  Vice  President      345 

delegation.  At  Kansas  City  he  was  ignored.  Croker 
was  in  control  of  New  York,  and  would  not  give  Hill  a 
place  on  the  committee  on  resolutions,  nor  any  other 
recognition.  Hill  made  a  flying  trip  to  Lincoln  and 
came  back  with  a  flea  in  his  ear.  His  sense  of  humor 
was  sufficient  to  allow  him  to  joke  about  the  cold 
reception  he  met  at  Fairview  Farm. 

11 1  have  a  reputation  of  being  somewhat  cold  at 
times  myself,"  he  said  grimly,  "but  I  am  not  an 
iceberg." 

* '  Was  your  trip  successful  ? ' ' 

"I  should  scarcely  call  it  a  success,"  replied  Hill. 

Hill  really  wanted  to  be  the  Bryan  leader  in  the  con 
vention.  He  thought  it  would  be  the  best  way  to 
unhorse  the  Croker  control  in  New  York,  and  to  rehabili 
tate  himself  in  the  party.  But  Bryan  never  had  an 
olive  branch  for  those  Democrats  who  opposed  him  in 
1896. 

There  was  not  much  that  was  noteworthy  in  the  cam 
paign  of  1900.  It  was  a  tame  affair  compared  to  that 
four  years  previous,  when  the  same  two  men  contested 
for  the  Presidency.  The  same  chairmen  were  in  charge, 
Hanna  for  the  Republicans  and  Jones  for  the  Demo 
crats.  Hanna  again  had  all  the  funds  he  wanted,  and 
the  Democrats  had  enough  to  furnish  Bryan  an  oppor 
tunity  to  tour  the  country  again,  and  speak  to  the 
people — his  favorite  occupation. 

Roosevelt  contributed  the  only  real  interest  to  the 
campaign.  He  was  more  interesting  and  picturesque 
than  Bryan,  for  although  he  was  new  in  the  national 


346        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

game,  he  was  well  known  on  account  of  his  exploits  in 
the  Spanish  war  and  his  spectacular  canvass  for  the 
governorship  of  New  York.  He  campaigned  in  nearly 
all  the  northern  states,  going  as  far  west  as  Colorado. 
At  Victor  in  that  state  there  was  a  howling  mob  which 
for  a  time  prevented  him  from  speaking.  They  were 
very  pronounced  silver  men.  At  Denver  he  was  asked 
to  define  his  views  on  the  money  question,  and  boldly 
proclaimed : 

"We  stand  upon  a  gold  platform!" 

This  almost  caused  a  riot,  but  the  very  audacity  of 
the  utterance  made  friends  for  the  Colonel,  even  of 
those  who  did  not  agree  with  him. 

In  his  own  state  later  in  the  campaign  he  was  often 
badgered  and  insulted,  but  was  generally  able  to  hold 
his  own,  and  he  denounced  those  who  tried  to  create 
disorder  as  hoboes  and  hoodlums. 

When  Roosevelt  was  campaigning  through  Minne 
sota,  North  Dakota  and  Montana,  he  was  accompanied 
by  a  number  of  men  of  that  section  who  knew  him  well. 
Those  states  have  a  large  Scandinavian  population,  and 
in  nearly  every  speech  Roosevelt  made  an  allusion  to  the 
" sturdy  sons  of  Scandinavia"  or  to  the  "hardy  Norse 
men,"  or  used  some  other  catchy  phrase.  Finally,  one 
of  the  western  men  remarked  that  notwithstanding  the 
national  ticket  was  Irish  and  Dutch  (McKinley  and 
Roosevelt) ,  they  all  had  to  bow  to  the  ' '  Scandihoovian, " 
a  term  sometimes  used  in  playful  derision  where  the 
Scandinavians  became  very  prominent  in  politics.  The 
remark  led  to  the  composition  of  a  chant,  which  mem- 


Roosevelt  for  Vice  President      347 

bers  of  the  party  would  sing — or  rather  recite — with 
great  gusto  when  in  the  private  car  of  the  Vice  Presi 
dential  candidate.  It  ran  like  this : 

"The  Irish  and  the  Dutch; 
They  don't  amount  to  much: 
Then  hurrah  for  the  Scandi-hoo-vi-an!" 

Governor  Roosevelt  would  join  in  the  chant  and  outdo 
the  others  in  laughter  when  it  was  concluded. 

When  the  campaign  was  over  Roosevelt  returned  to 
New  York.  His  term  as  Governor  ended  on  the  first 
of  January,  1901,  and  he  had  two  months  before  assum 
ing  the  duties  of  Vice  President.  The  most  of  this 
time  he  utilized  in  a  mountain  lion  hunt  in  Colorado. 

The  campaign  was  not  quite  such  "rich  picking"  as 
it  had  been  in  1896.  The  market  for  spellbinders  was 
somewhat  depressed.  The  "boys  on  the  firing  line" 
were  not  furnished  quite  so  freely  with  money. 

President  McKinley  decided  not  to  receive  delega 
tions  at  Canton  as  he  had  done  in  the  previous  cam 
paign.  I  saw  him  at  the  time  of  his  official  notification 
of  the  nomination,  and  talked  with  him  about  having  a 
newspaper  representative  at  Canton  during  the  summer. 

"It  is  unnecessary,"  said  the  President.  "This  is 
not  going  to  be  any  such  campaign  as  four  years  ago. 
There  will  not  be  visiting  delegations,  nor  anything  like 
that.  I  will  not  make  speeches,  save  one  or  two  late  in 
the  year.  Four  years  ago  I  was  a  private  citizen  and  the 
candidate  of  my  party  for  President.  It  was  my  privi 
lege  to  aid  in  bringing  success  to  my  party  by  making  a 


348        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

campaign.  Now  I  am  President  of  the  whole  people, 
and  while  I  am  a  candidate  again,  I  feel  that  the  pro 
prieties  demand  that  the  President  should  refrain  from 
making  a  political  canvass  in  his  own  behalf,  and  I  shall 
not  engage  in  speechmaking  this  year,  save  on  one 
or  two  occasions  when  I  shall  speak  upon  national 
questions  rather  than  partisan  politics." 

In  view  of  the  close  attention  given  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States  in  later  days  by  the  newspaper 
men,  it  seems  rather  strange  that  President  McKinley 
should  have  stayed  at  Canton  during  the  entire  summer 
without  a  squad  of  White  House  reporters  in  attend 
ance.  In  those  days  when  the  President  went  home 
for  a  vacation  he  took  it,  and  the  business  of  the  govern 
ment  was  conducted  at  Washington,  only  such  very  im 
portant  matters  as  were  necessary  being  sent  to  him 
and  his  action  on  them  was  announced  in  Washington. 

Everybody  knew  that  there  was  no  necessity  for  such 
an  effort  to  elect  McKinley  as  there  had  been  four  years 
previous.  The  Democrats  had  made  it  easy  for  the  Repub 
licans  by  adding  abandonment  of  the  Philippines  to  the 
free  silver  declaration  in  their  platform.  The  anti -imperi 
alism  plank  in  the  platform  afforded  an  opportunity  for 
gold  Democrats  to  return  to  the  fold  and  many  took 
advantage  of  it,  asserting  that  silver  was  not  a  real 
issue  as  in  1896.  But  these  men  were  mostly  in  the 
eastern  states  where  their  votes  did  not  affect  the  re 
sult.  On  the  other  hand  the  Republicans  in  the  West 
who  returned  to  the  party  were  of  importance,  and  en 
abled  McKinley  to  carry  seven  states  which  voted  for 


Roosevelt  for  Vice  President       349 

Bryan  in  1896,  while  Kentucky  was  the  only  state  that 
McKinley  carried  in  1896  that  voted  for  Bryan  in  1900. 
McKinley  had  about  100,000  more  votes  and  Bryan 
about  150,000  less  votes  than  in  1896. 

During  the  summer  occurred  the  Boxer  trouble  in 
China.  Secretary  Root  handled  the  matter  for  this 
Government.  President  McKinley  was  in  Canton  and 
Secretary  Hay  was  at  his  summer  home  in  New  Hamp 
shire.  Acting  Secretary  Adee  was  in  charge  of  the 
State  Department,  but  the  business  was  actually  trans 
acted  by  Root.  Adee  was  very  deaf  and  it  was  with 
some  difficulty  that  one  could  converse  with  him. 
One  day  Root  returning  from  the  State  Department  was 
surrounded  by  a  number  of  newspaper  men  who  asked 
him  for  news. 

"There  is  really  nothing  to  make  public  at  present," 
he  replied. 

"But  haven't  you  been  over  to  the  State  Depart 
ment?"  he  was  asked. 

"Oh,  yes,"  he  replied,  as  he  reached  the  door  of  his 
office.  "I  am  going  to  talk  with  McKinley  over  the 
long  distance  telephone,  and  I  have  been  over  practicing 
my  voice  on  Adee." 

One  of  the  principal  figures  during  the  Boxer  uprising 
was  Dr.  Wu  Ting-Fang,  the  Chinese  minister.  There 
was  a  long  period  when  no  information  could  be  ob 
tained  directly  from  the  ministers  of  foreign  countries 
who  were  besieged  in  Pekin,  but  Wu  was  able  to  give 
Secretary  Root  assurances  of  their  safety.  In  some 
mysterious  way  he  was  able  to  obtain  information  not 


350        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

accessible  to  General  Chaff ee,  who  commanded  the 
American  troops  that  went  to  the  Chinese  capital. 

In  later  days  Minister  Wu  took  considerable  satis 
faction  in  adding  to  the  many  other  questions  for  which 
he  was  famous  one  addressed  pointedly  to  any  person 
who  was  in  China  at  the  time  of  the  Boxer  trouble, 
It  was : 

"Did  you  get  any  of  the  loot?" 

The  looting  of  Pekin  was  one  of  the  features  of  the 
expedition  that  was  not  creditable  to  the  civilized 
powers  that  took  part  in  it.  In  justice  to  General 
Chaffee  it  must  be  said  that  he  tried  to  reduce  looting 
on  the  part  of  Americans  to  a  minimum.  It  may  also 
be  stated  that  much  of  the  so-called  "loot"  consisted  of 
goods  which  many  Chinese  owners  sold  for  any  price 
they  could  get.  They  saw  the  foreign  soldiers  breaking 
into  the  shops  and  helping  themselves  to  the  goods  of 
other  Chinese  merchants,  and  considered  it  the  part  of 
wisdom  to  take  what  they  could  get  for  their  wares. 

Before  the  short  session  of  Congress  assembled  in  De 
cember,  1900,  there  had  been  important  changes  in  the 
Senate.  Dolliver  succeeded  Gear  from  Iowa,  and 
Cushman  K.  Davis  died,  leaving  a  vacancy  at  the  head 
of  the  Foreign  Relations  Committee,  the  most  important 
committee  in  Congress  at  that  time.  Dolliver's  promo 
tion  was  not  of  great  moment  then,  but  later  his  pres 
ence  in  the  Senate  had  a  very  important  effect  upon  the 
politics  of  the  country.  William  P.  Dillingham  of 
Vermont  at  that  time  began  a  long  and  useful  Senate 
career. 


Roosevelt  for  Vice  President      35 1 

Davis  was  a  brilliant  man,  but  too  indolent  to  make 
use  of  his  splendid  talents.  If  he  once  became  in 
terested  in  a  subject  he  went  to  the  bottom  of  it.  There 
was  nothing  that  he  did  not  uncover.  That  was  true 
in  regard  to  his  first  great  speech  against  the  Nicaragua 
canal.  He  pointed  out  with  apparent  conclusiveness 
that  the  route  would  never  be  satisfactory  because 
earthquakes  would  destroy  the  locks  and  dams. 

Talking  to  a  small  group  of  musicians  on  one  occa 
sion  about  their  art  and  instruments,  he  revealed  a 
knowledge  about  every  sort  of  musical  instrument 
that  had  ever  been  played,  and  the  kind  and  character 
of  musicians  of  all  tribes  and  ages  so  far  as  there  was 
any  record. 

"It's  my  damned  inertia,"  he  once  said  to  me, 
explaining  why  he  did  not  take  a  more  active  part  in 
the  affairs  of  the  Senate.  He  would  read  late  into  the 
night  and  at  the  same  time  smoke  strong  cigars.  At 
the  Senate  he  would  lie  on  a  sofa  in  the  cloak  room  or  in 
his  committee  room,  or  indulge  in  the  luxury  of  the 
baths  which  are  provided  for  Senators.  Only  when 
deeply  interested  did  he  display  the  splendid  mind  and 
great  ability  he  possessed. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

THE  YOUNGEST  PRESIDENT 

Theodore  Roosevelt  in  the  White  House  after  McKinley's  Assassina 
tion—A  Marked  Change  Apparent— Many  People  Told  Him  How 
to  Run  the  Government — The  Booker  Washington  Sensation- 
First  Tilt  with  General  Miles. 

PRESIDENT  McKINLEY  began  his  second  term 
under  most  auspicious  conditions.  Opposition  in 
his  own  party  could  muster  only  a  few  votes.  His 
policy  of  expansion  and  the  government  of  the  territory 
surrendered  by  Spain  had  been  endorsed  by  the  people 
at  the  polls  and  by  congressional  legislation.  It  was 
believed  that  he  had,  by  conciliatory  methods  and 
liberality  in  recognizing  southern  Democrats  in  the 
way  of  patronage,  caused  a  tendency  towards  the  dis 
organization  of  that  party  which  might  result  in  a 
break  in  the  solid  South.  Everywhere  he  seemed  to 
be  the  idol  of  most  of  the  people.  So  great  was  his 
popularity  that  the  shouts  of  the  admiring  throngs 
during  his  second  inauguration  had  scarcely  died  away 
before  there  was  talk  of  nominating  him  for  a  third 
term.  This  grew  to  such  an  extent  that  the  President 
felt  impelled  to  put  a  stop  to  it  in  a  public  statement, 
emphatically  saying  that  he  would  not  accept  another 
nomination  or  an  election. 

352 


The  Youngest  President          353 

It  was  altogether  natural  that  at  the  second  inaugural 
of  Mr.  McKinley  the  new  Vice  President  should  to  a  large 
extent  occupy  the  center  of  the  stage,  especially  such 
a  Vice  President  as  Roosevelt,  whose  wonderful  career 
and  personality  lent  an  added  attraction  to  the  man. 

Roosevelt  presided  over  the  Senate  only  six  days 
during  the  special  session,  and  most  of  that  time  the 
body  was  sitting  behind  closed  doors  considering 
executive  appointments.  But  his  every  act  was 
noted,  even  to  the  fact  that  he  was  prompted 
by  a  clerk  near  his  desk  in  the  details  of  the  procedure 
in  the  Senate.  He  never  learned  whether  he  would  like 
his  new  job  or  not.  He  remarked  when  the  Senate 
adjourned  that  he  was  afraid  he  was  going  to  find  it 
rather  tame  for  a  man  of  his  temperament. 

Among  the  important  events  during  the  year  1901 
were  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  on  the  insular 
cases  involving  the  Foraker  Act  in  regard  to  Porto 
Rico  and  other  legislation  relating  to  the  Philippines. 
By  these  decisions  the  right  to  levy  duty  on  goods  from 
those  recently  acquired  islands,  and  the  right  to  govern 
the  insular  possessions  in  the  manner  prescribed  by 
Congress,  was  upheld.  These  decisions  were  by  a  five- 
to-four  vote,  the  curious  feature  being  that  Justice 
Brown  voted  with  four  associates  in  one  case,  and  with 
the  other  four  in  the  other  case.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
political  conditions  and  the  home  environment  of  the 
Justices  had  much  to  do  in  shaping  these  opinions.  The 
most  severe  criticism  of  the  court's  action  came  from 
the  Justices  in  dissenting  opinions. 

VOL.  I — 23 


354        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

On  the  morning  the  opinions  were  rendered,  Justice 
Harlan,  a  vigorous  dissenter,  gave  a  hint  that  he  was 
much  dissatisfied  by  telling  a  story  to  a  friend,  who 
asked  if  the  opinions  were  coming  that  day. 

"Down  in  Kentucky,"  said  Justice  Harlan,  "a 
farmer  had  a  very  unruly  heifer  which  was  constantly 
breaking  out  of  the  pasture.  He  finally  built  a  very 
high  and  tight  board  fence  around  a  lot  in  which  the 
heifer  was  confined.  Some  boys  who  wanted  to  have  a 
little  fun  with  him,  took  the  heifer  out  of  the  inclosure 
one  night,  and  backing  her  up  to  the  fence  where  there 
was  a  knot  hole  poked  her  tail  through  it  and  left  her. 
In  the  morning  the  farmer  discovered  the  heifer  and 
was  much  amazed. 

'"I  knew  that  knot  hole  was  there,'  he  said, 
'but  how  in  thunder  that  heifer  got  through  it  beats 


me."' 


President  McKinley  had  served  six  months  of  his 
second  term  when  the  great  tragedy  at  Buffalo,  in  Sep 
tember,  1901,  shocked  the  nation  and  changed  the  whole 
course  of  events  in  the  country.  The  assassination  of 
President  McKinley  was  a  more  dastardly  act  than 
that  which  made  martyrs  of  two  other  Presidents. 
There  was  neither  the  strife  of  civil  war  nor  the  heat  of 
politics  to  engender  the  hate  necessary  to  take  the  life 
of  such  a  gentle  character  as  McKinley.  In  his  lofty 
soul  there  was  only  the  desire  to  do  good  to  all  people 
and  govern  the  Republic  in  the  interests  of  the  whole 
country. 

Perhaps  for  his  place  in  history  it  was  well  that 


The  Youngest  President          355 

his  career  should  have  closed  when  he  had  reached 
the  summit  of  success.  He  is  enshrined  forever  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people  as  one  of  the  great  men,  a 
President  who  stood  for  peace,  but  conducted  a 
war  to  a  successful  conclusion,  and  who,  to  the  best  of 
his  ability,  was  trying  to  solve  the  problems  and  bear  the 
responsibilities  which  that  war  imposed. 

"If  it  were  not  for  Ida  [Mrs.  McKinley],  I  would 
prefer  to  go  as  Lincoln  went,"  said  Mr.  McKinley 
to  his  close  personal  friend,  Herman  H. 
Kohlsaat,  long  before  he  became  the  victim  of  an 
assassin's  bullet.  Perhaps  he  had  a  premonition 
that  he  might  fall  at  the  zenith  of  his  career.  There  are 
some  things  that  no  one  can  explain.  I  would  like  to 
publish  a  letter  I  wrote  after  the  Republican  convention 
in  1900,  but  can  only  make  a  few  extracts:  "They 
think  they  have  shelved  Roosevelt  by  nominating  him 
for  Vice  President.  .  .  .  You  know  that  to  a  cer 
tain  extent  I  believe  in  manifest  destiny.  I  feel  sure 
that  Roosevelt  will  become  President  during  his  term 
of  Vice  President." 

There  was  an  incident  connected  with  the  death  of 
McKinley  which  was  unimportant  at  the  time,  but 
which  future  events  made  interesting.  McKinley  was 
dead  and  in  his  casket  in  the  Milburn  residence  at 
Buffalo.  Roosevelt  had  been  sworn  in  as  President. 
At  the  ceremonies  held  at  the  Milburn  house  Roosevelt 
met  Mr.  Kohlsaat  and  told  him  that  after  the  services 
he  desired  to  see  him  at  the  Wilcox  residence,  where 
Roosevelt  was  staying.  When  Kohlsaat  called  he  was 


356        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

shown  into  a  front  room,  where  Roosevelt  was  talking 
with  a  tall,  slim,  scholarly-looking  man,  whom  Roose 
velt  called  Prof.  Wilson  when  Kohlsaat  was  introduced, 
and  then  he  added : 

"Woody,  will  you  step  into  the  back  room?  I  want 
to  talk  over  something  of  particular  importance  with 
Mr.  Kohlsaat  for  a  few  minutes." 

Prof.  Woodrow  Wilson  remained  in  that  back  room 
for  an  hour  and  a  half. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  was  forty-two  years  old  when  he 
became  President,  the  youngest  man  who  ever  held  the 
great  office.  He  was  the  fifth  man  to  succeed  from  the 
Vice  Presidency,  and  the  third  to  fall  heir  to  the  place 
through  the  death  of  his  predecessor  by  an  assassin's 
bullet.  Coming  to  the  high  office  after  such  a  tragedy 
made  a  profound  impression  upon  him.  He  knew  that 
he  was  not  in  harmony  with  the  close  friends  of  the  late 
President,  and  that  he  was  distrusted  by  Hanna  and  the 
men  who  were  close  to  the  Ohio  Senator.  There  were 
people  who  feared  his  lack  of  judgment  for  the  exalted 
position,  and  believed  that  he  might  do  almost  anything 
erratic  which  would  upset  business. 

President  Roosevelt  attended  the  funeral  ceremonies 
of  McKinley,  both  in  Washington  and  at  Canton.  In 
the  Capitol  building  he  met  former  President  Cleveland, 
and  as  they  shook  hands  the  new  President  said : 

"I  am  proud  to  have  served  under  you,  sir." 

He  alluded  to  the  days  when  he  was  Civil  Service 
Commissioner. 

The  elevation  of  Roosevelt  to  the  Presidency  made  a 


The  Youngest  President          357 

great  difference  with  a  number  of  Senators.  This  was 
particularly  true  of  Senator  Lodge,  who  had  been 
Roosevelt's  long  time  intimate;  of  Senator  Foraker, 
whose  relations  with  Hanna  were  somewhat  strained, 
and  who  had  never  been  on  intimate  terms  at  the  White 
House ;  of  Senator  Beveridge,  whose  colleague,  Senator 
Fairbanks,  had  been  an  intimate  friend  of  Hanna  and 
was  close  to  McKinley ;  and  of  a  number  of  others  who 
had  not  been  on  the  best  of  terms  with  the  powers  as 
represented  by  the  Hanna  domination  in  the  Senate. 

Roosevelt's  intimacy  with  Lodge  continued,  and  the 
Massachusetts  Senator  was  so  constantly  at  the  White 
House  as  to  cause  comment  among  other  Senators. 
There  were  jokes  about  Lodge  having  a  latchkey.  One 
day  I  was  talking  with  the  President  and  asked  him 
if  this  impression  of  Lodge's  influence  at  the  White 
House  was  not  likely  to  weaken  his  influence  in  the 
Senate. 

4 'They  don't  understand  it  at  all,"  impatiently  ex 
claimed  the  President.  * '  Instead  of  Lodge  running  me, 
I  run  Lodge.'* 

While  in  conversation  with  him  not  long  after  he  was 
installed  in  the  White  House  I  said  that  I  supposed 
he  was  receiving  advice  as  to  how  to  conduct  the  office. 

"Advice!"  he  replied.  "I  have  received  more 
advice  than  any  man  living — mostly  bad." 

Later  in  the  Fall  I  was  again  in  his  office  and  told  him 
that  one  of  my  friends  wanted  him  to  accept  the  use  of  a 
shooting  lodge  on  Chesapeake  Bay  where  there  was 
excellent  duck  shooting. 


358        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

"I  am  going  to  curb  my  desire  for  hunting,"  he  re 
plied.  "I  do  not  want  the  people  to  get  an  idea  that 
they  have  a  sporting  President." 

Roosevelt  was  in  office  just  a  little  more  than  a  month 
when  he  caused  a  sensation  by  having  Booker  T. 
Washington,  the  negro  educator,  lunch  with  him  at  the 
White  House.  This  occurred  on  October  16,  1901,  and 
for  days  it  was  one  of  the  most  widely  discussed  sub 
jects  in  the  country.  In  the  southern  states  the  Presi 
dent  was  universally  condemned  by  public  men  and  in 
the  press. 

It  was  a  great  shock  to  that  element  which  was  about 
to  launch  a  white  man's  Republican  party  in  the  South. 
I  had  an  opportunity  to  note  the  effect  of  the  Booker 
Washington  episode  in  communities  where  there  was 
quite  a  large  negro  population.  In  Maryland  many 
Democrats  had  left  the  party  on  the  silver  issue,  and 
after  voting  the  Republican  ticket  for  a  few  years  and 
finding  they  were  not  ostracized,  had  about  determined 
to  remain  in  that  party.  But  the  Booker  Washington 
luncheon  completely  upset  them.  The  Democrats  who 
had  remained  steadfast  jeered  them  and  talked  about 
" nigger  equality."  It  drove  many  of  them  back  to 
Democracy. 

I  told  Roosevelt  what  was  going  on  and  that  it 
would  result  in  turning  the  state  completely  over  to  his 
old  enemy  Gorman. 

' '  I  am  sorry, ' '  he  replied, ' '  if  the  good  people  of  Mary 
land  are  disturbed  about  that  affair.  I'll  tell  you  how 
it  happened.  The  man  was  here  talking  with  me  when 


The  Youngest  President          359 

luncheon  was  announced,  and  I  told  him  to  come  in 
and  have  lunch  with  me  while  we  continued  our  talk. 
That  was  all  there  was  to  it." 

He  made  some  other  observations  about  doing 
things,  and  I  said,  "Don't  do  things." 

"I  must  do  things,"  was  his  reply. 

And  he  continued  to  "do  things"  as  long  as  he  was 
President — and  ever  after. 

The  prediction  about  Maryland  proved  true.  The 
state  which  had  been  casting  its  vote  for  Republican 
electors  in  two  presidential  campaigns,  and  then  had  a 
Republican  governor,  gave  one  of  its  largest  Demo 
cratic  majorities  that  Fall.  Other  states  where  there 
were  negroes  in  any  number  also  showed  their  resent 
ment  by  giving  large  Democratic  majorities. 

It  was  not  long  after  Roosevelt  became  President 
that  he  discarded  the  term,  "Executive  Mansion,"  in 
public  documents  and  adopted  "White  House." 
The  change  was  generally  approved  and  the  name  has 
been  retained  by  his  successors. 

Roosevelt  saw  more  people  during  the  first  months 
he  was  in  office  than  any  other  President.  He  had 
the  faculty  of  receiving  men,  hearing  them,  getting 
their  views  and  disposing  of  them  in  the  least  possible 
time.  Hundreds  of  people  went  to  the  White  House 
every  week,  and  nearly  all  of  them  had  an  opportunity 
to  see  the  President.  Most  of  his  time  was  taken  up 
with  office-seekers  and  those  who  wanted  favors  of  one 
kind  or  another.  That  he  could  see  so  many  people 
and  dispose  of  them  in  such  a  short  time  was  one  of  the 


360        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

marvels  of  his  whole  Administration,  and  was  one  of  the 
causes  of  his  popularity. 

Naturally,  there  was  considerable  alarm  expressed 
concerning  the  safety  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  after  he  became 
President.  The  assassination  of  McKinley  made  it 
appear  that  the  President  was  a  target  for  cranks  who 
for  one  reason  or  another  would  not  hesitate  to  take  the 
life  of  the  President.  The  secret  service  men  detailed 
to  guard  the  President  took  every  possible  precaution, 
but  with  a  man  like  Roosevelt  it  was  exceedingly  diffi 
cult  for  them  to  keep  him  in  view.  He  did  not  like 
restraint.  Always  free  and  active  in  his  manner  of 
life,  he  found  the  vigilance  of  the  secret  service  men  irk 
some  and  their  constant  presence  irritating.  Often 
times  he  gave  them  the  slip  and  would  be  out  of  their 
sight  for  hours  while  taking  a  ramble  in  Rock  Creek 
Park  or  enjoying  an  exhilarating  horseback  ride. 

Finally,  Chief  Wilkie  had  a  heart-to-heart  talk  with 
him.  Wilkie  told  the  President  plainly  that  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  men  assigned  to  the  White  House  to  guard 
him  and  to  see  that  no  unauthorized  persons  gained 
access  to  him;  that  if  anything  should  happen  to 
him  the  secret  service  would  be  blamed  for  lack 
of  vigilance,  and  he  hoped  the  President  would 
consider  it  in  that  light  and  submit  to  what  seemed  an 
annoyance  in  the  interest  of  the  country,  his  personal 
welfare,  and  of  those  whose  duty  it  was  to  see  that  the 
Chief  Executive  was  protected. 

Roosevelt  was  quick  to  see  the  proposition  in  that 
light  and  promised  ever  after  cooperation  with  the 


The  Youngest  President          361 

men  whose  duty  it  was  to  guard  him.  But  he  gave 
them  a  strenuous  life.  They  had  to  get  motorcycles 
to  keep  up  with  him,  and  often  returned  to  the  White 
House  much  fatigued. 

Not  long  after  Roosevelt  became  President  I  had 
a  conversation  with  him  on  the  subject  of  precautions 
for  his  safety. 

"If  any  man  is  willing  to  give  his  life  for  mine,"  he 
said,  "there  is  no  way  that  he  can  be  prevented  from 
making  the  attempt.  But  such  a  man  must  be  quicker 
than  I  am  in  the  use  of  his  gun." 

This  was  a  reference  to  the  fact  that  he  carried  a 
revolver.  Often  visitors  at  the  White  House  saw  the 
print  of  that  revolver  against  his  coat  when  it  was 
tightly  buttoned. 

Naturally,  there  were  critics  of  a  President  who  carried 
a  gun.  One  of  them  was  General  Miles,  who  had  a  serious 
difference  with  the  President.  The  General  made  an 
adverse  comment  while  addressing  an  audience  in 
Texas. 

"Think  of  the  General's  lack  of  a  sense  of  humor," 
gleefully  commented  the  President.  "He  criticizes  me 
before  a  Texas  audience  for  carrying  a  gun.  And  this 
in  Texas  where  the  average  man  does  not  think  he  is 
'well  heeled'  unless  he  has  at  least  two." 

The  break  with  General  Miles  grew  out  of  the  Samp- 
son-Schley  controversy,  which  had  resulted  in  a  court  of 
inquiry  on  the  demand  of  Schley.  It  was  one  of  the 
big  events  in  Washington  at  the  time,  and  the  whole 
country  took  a  very  lively  interest  in  the  extended  in- 


362        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

quiry,  which  was  like  a  trial.  Admiral  Dewey  decided 
in  favor  of  Schley  and  two  other  members  of  the  court 
against  him. 

General  Miles,  who  felt  free  to  comment  on  all 
questions,  publicly  declared  that  Dewey  was  right  and 
condemned  the  majority  opinion  of  the  court .  Not  only 
was  Roosevelt  furious,  but  Secretary  Root  was  thor 
oughly  angered.  Miles  was  reprimanded  by  Root  in 
a  letter  couched  in  language  that  made  it  burn  and 
sting. 

General  Miles  went  to  the  White  House  to  make  a  pro 
test  and  there,  instead  of  the  incisive,  well-chosen  words 
of  Root,  he  encountered  the  explosive,  bombshell, 
hurtling  sentences  of  Roosevelt,  who  told  the  General 
in  plain  terms  what  he  thought  of  his  actions,  not  only 
in  the  case  under  consideration,  but  in  regard  to 
embalmed  beef  charges,  and  his  course  during  and  after 
the  Spanish  war. 

During  the  previous  presidential  campaign  a  man 
had  interrupted  Roosevelt  while  he  was  making  a 
speech,  and  asked  him  about  canned  or  embalmed  beef. 

' '  I  ate  it, "  snapped  Roosevelt.  ' '  That  was  only  one 
of  many  slanders  that  were  put  forth  for  political 
purposes." 

It  was  evident  that  he  had  not  forgotten  the  subject 
during  that  interview  with  General  Miles. 

The  Spooner  act  locating  the  Isthmian  canal  at 
Panama  and  providing  for  its  construction,  was 
the  most  important  legislation  of  the  Fifty-seventh 
Congress. 


The  Youngest  President          363 

The  House  by  an  overwhelming  majority  decided  in 
favor  of  Nicaragua,  but  under  the  skillful  management 
of  Senator  Hanna  the  Senate,  by  a  majority  of  ten, 
chose  Panama,  and  the  House  accepted  the  Spooner 
substitute  with  only  eight  negative  votes. 

The  result  was  not  accomplished  without  rumors  of 
the  use  of  money  and  outside  influence.  In  fact  Wm. 
Nelson  Cromwell,  who  was  in  the  gallery  during  the 
debate,  was  severely  scored  by  Senator  Morgan  of 
Alabama  for  the  part  he  was  taking  and  had  taken  in 
the  negotiations  for  the  French  concession  for  which 
this  government  paid  $40,000,000. 

There  was  reason  to  believe  that  Hanna  was  not  in 
favor  of  any  canal,  and  hoped  to  play  Panama  against 
Nicaragua,  and  cause  a  deadlock  between  the  Senate 
and  House  which  would  prevent  a  canal  from  being 
authorized.  There  was  a  number  of  Senators  who  be 
lieved  that  the  canal  would  be  a  source  of  military 
weakness,  and  not  a  profitable  venture  commercially. 
Senator  Spooner  was  one  who  doubted  its  feasibility, 
but  he  said  that  the  people  of  the  country  had  decreed  a 
canal  should  be  built,  and  he  was  concerned  in  getting 
the  best  route. 

"The  great  transcontinental  railroads  are  responsible 
for  much  of  the  canal  sentiment,"  he  told  me.  "They 
have  lacked  foresight  in  the  conduct  of  their  business, 
and  caused  the  people  of  the  country  to  believe  that 
freight  rates  can  only  be  regulated  by  an  all-water 
route  from  coast  to  coast." 

Senator  Dubois  of  Idaho  was  one  of  several  western 


364        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Senators  who  did  not  believe  in  the  canal.  '  *  It  is  easier 
to  vote  for  it  than  to  explain  why  if  I  voted  against 
it,"  he  said.  "In  fact  if  any  of  us  should  vote  against 
it,  we  never  could  explain  our  votes  to  our  people." 

When  Congress  convened  the  leaders  seemed  to  be 
all  against  Cuban  reciprocity,  which  had  become  a  live 
subject.  Henderson,  Cannon,  Payne  and  Grosvenor 
expressed  opposition.  "It  seems  to  me  we  have  done 
enough  for  Cuba,"  Grosvenor  said.  But  in  almost  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye  they  were  over  on  the  other  side  and 
earnestly  supporting  President  Roosevelt. 

Caucuses,  conferences,  and  other  meetings  were  held, 
but  there  were  forty  or  more  Republicans  representing 
beet  sugar  states,  who  for  that  and  other  reasons,  would 
not  support  the  Administration.  The  Democrats  were 
for  the  reciprocity  bill  because  it  was  in  the  line  of 
tariff  reduction.  Finally,  the  bill  was  passed,  but  the 
insurgents  executed  a  flank  movement.  They  tacked 
on  an  amendment,  supported  by  the  Democrats,  remov 
ing  the  differential  duty  on  refined  sugar,  which  meant 
defeat  for  the  bill  when  it  reached  the  Senate. 

There  were  several  interesting  incidents  in  the  House 
while  the  Cuban  bill  was  under  consideration.  One  of 
them  was  a  speech  in  which  De  Armond  of  Missouri 
spoke  of  the  "five-fingered  boss  rule  in  the  House,"  say 
ing  that  Henderson  as  Speaker  and  the  other  two  mem 
bers  of  the  Committee  on  Rules,  Dalzell  and  Grosvenor, 
with  Payne  at  the  head  of  Ways  and  Means,  and  Cannon, 
Chairman  of  Appropriations,  constituted  an  oligarchy 
such  as  never  before  existed. 


The  Youngest  President          365 

Among  the  insurgents  on  the  Cuban  reciprocity  bill 
were  Tawney  of  Minnesota  and  Wm.  Alden  Smith  of 
Michigan,  both  of  whom  later  were  taken  into  the  regu 
lar  camp.  Another  was  the  brilliant  Frank  W.  Cush- 
man  of  Washington  He  made  a  speech  near  the  close 
of  the  debate  which  will  always  stand  out  as  an  artistic 
piece  of  " skinning."  Long,  lank,  angular, homely,  and 
solemn  looking,  he  stood  far  back  in  the  hall  and  un 
burdened  his  mind.  After  severely  criticizing  the 
House  rules,  he  said : 

"Some  day  in  this  House  there  will  be  an  explosion  of 
the  honest  patriotism  and  indignation  of  the  individual 
members ;  and  on  that  day  in  the  midst  of  the  fire  and 
smoke  incident  to  the  occasion,  I  expect  to  see  blown 
right  through  the  roof  of  this  hall  one  red  button  hole 
bouquet  [Dalzell],  one  set  of  venerable  white  whiskers 
[Grosvernor],  and  one  large,  but  luminous  body 
[Payne]." 

After  further  remarks,  he  added : 

"I  promise  you  to  make  another  speech  on  the  rules 
that  will  be  so  warm  that  it  will  have  to  be  printed  on 
asbestos  and  tied  to  a  hand  grenade  for  safe  distribution. ' ' 

Of  course  the  leaders  were  sore,  and  for  a  time  they 
talked  about  what  they  would  do  to  Cushman.  Then 
they  had  a  bright  thought.  They  took  him  in;  took 
good  care  of  him;  gave  him  a  good  committee  assign 
ment,  and  gave  him  the  legislation  he  wanted.  Like 
Tawney,  Smith,  Mann  and  Lorimer,  he  kicked  himself 
into  regularity  by  forcing  the  leaders  to  recognize  him. 


366        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

The  Cuban  reciprocity  bill  died  in  the  Senate,  but 
after  the  lapse  of  a  few  months,  President  Roosevelt 
had  his  way.  A  treaty  was  negotiated  by  which  there 
were  mutual  concessions,  and  Cuba  was  benefited  by 
a  twenty  per  cent  reduction  of  duty  on  all  her  products 
entering  this  country. 

Washington's  birthday  in  1902  was  celebrated  by 
the  Tillman-McLaurin  fight.  The  differences  between 
the  South  Carolina  Senators  had  existed  a  long  time, 
but  were  intensified  by  McLaurin's  vote  for  the  treaty 
which  ceded  the  Philippines  to  the  United  States. 
Finally,  McLaurin  read  a  personal  statement  in  the 
Senate,  and  concluded  with  the  assertion  that  Tillman 
had  uttered  a  deliberate  falsehood.  Tillman  was  sitting 
two  seats  away,  Senator  Teller  sitting  between  the  two 
South  Carolina  men. 

At  once  Tillman  sprang  past  Teller,  and  before  any 
one  could  raise  a  restraining  hand  he  landed  a  left  hand 
punch  on  McLaurin's  jaw.  The  men  grappled  and 
attempted  to  exchange  blows  when  Barney  Layton, 
assistant  Sergeant-at-Arms,  Senator  Warren,  and  other 
Senators  ran  forward  and  separated  them. 

There  was  a  fine  hubbub  in  the  Senate  and  great 
excitement.  At  once  the  doors  were  closed  and  all 
spectators  shut  out.  After  a  day  or  two  of  con 
sideration  both  Senators  were  censured,  which  was  the 
end  of  it  so  far  as  the  Senate  was  concerned,  but  the 
event  had  rather  far-reaching  effect,  because  of  subse 
quent  action  at  the  White  House. 

During  this  session  Senators  Bailey  and  Beveridge 


The  Youngest  President          367 

also  had  a  personal  encounter.  It  occurred  after  the 
adjournment  of  the  Senate  following  an  executive  ses 
sion,  and  consequently  was  witnessed  by  few  persons. 
During  the  day  Beveridge  had  exasperated  Bailey  in 
the  debate  to  such  an  extent  that  Bailey  made  an  assault 
upon  the  Indiana  Senator  when  the  session  closed.  It 
was  a  rather  violent  attack,  Bailey  seizing  Beveridge 
by  the  throat  and  throwing  his  weight  upon  him.  A 
chair  was  broken  in  the  m£lee,  but  when  other  Senators 
pulled  Bailey  off  it  was  found  that  Beveridge,  though 
badly  shaken  and  somewhat  bruised,  had  suffered  no 
serious  injury. 

One  of  the  important  acts  of  the  session  was  the  pro 
hibition  of  liquor  selling  in  the  Senate  and  House 
restaurants.  Charles  B.  Landis  of  Indiana  offered  an 
amendment  to  the  immigration  bill  which  abolished 
liquor  selling  in  the  Capitol.  It  was  adopted,  accepted 
by  the  Senate,  and  ever  after  remained  a  law. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

THE  WHITE  HOUSE  WONDER 

Great  Throngs  to  See  Roosevelt — Prince  Henry  has  a  Strenuous  Time — 
Tillman's  Invitation  to  Meet  the  Prince  Recalled— Philippine 
Troubles  and  Friar  Land  Settlement — Linguistic  Acrobatics — 
President  Stops  the  Coal  Strike — Speaker  Henderson  Declines 
Re-election — Reed  Smoot  and  the  Senate — Revolution  at  Panama 
Necessary  to  Construct  the  Canal — Ohio  Endorses  Roosevelt  for 
a  Second  Term — Miles  Retires  and  General  Staff  Takes  Possession. 

HTHE  greatest  throng  that  was  ever  seen  in  the  White 
House  attended  President  Roosevelt's  reception 
New  Year's  Day  in  1902.  More  than  9,000  people, 
including  officials  of  high  and  low  degree,  and  a  swarm 
of  citizens,  passed  through  the  portals  and  shook  hands 
with  the  President.  A  record  of  what  they  said  and 
his  replies  would  make  quite  a  volume.  He  was  the 
most  wonderful  man  of  the  time,  and  everything  he  did 
created  commendation,  criticism,  amazement,  or  curi 
osity.  The  White  House  was  the  center  of  our  uni 
verse,  and  everybody  seemed  to  be  wondering  what 
Roosevelt  would  do  next.  And  they  were  not  kept 
waiting  long,  for  one  thing  followed  another  so  quickly 
that  public  affairs  seemed  to  be  in  a  whirl. 

Prince  Henry  of  Prussia,  the  brother  of  the  German 
Emperor,  visited  this  country  during  the  winter.  He 
came  to  Washington  just  after  the  Tillman-McLaurin 

368 


The  White  House  Wonder        369 

encounter  in  the  Senate.  As  he  was  a  naval  officer 
naval  officers  and  the  ranking  men  on  the  naval  com 
mittees  in  Congress  were  invited  to  the  dinner  given  in 
honor  of  the  Prince  at  the  White  House. 

Just  before  the  dinner  Roosevelt  recalled  the  invita 
tion  to  Senator  Tillman  on  account  of  the  fight.  That 
caused  a  sensation  of  the  biggest  kind,  and  it  made 
Tillman  the  life-long  enemy  of  Roosevelt. 

There  was  an  amusing  story  told  about  that  enter 
tainment.  The  German  national  beverage  was  in  evi 
dence  and  huge  beer  steins  were  borrowed  to  give  atmos 
phere  to  the  occasion.  Some  of  the  guests  of  a  curious 
turn  of  mind  examined  a  few  steins  closely  and  were 
surprised  and  amused  to  read  on  them : 

"This  stein  was  stolen  from  Fritz  Reuter." 

The  German  restaurant  proprietor  always  had  stamped 
his  steins  in  that  way  to  prevent  souvenir  hunters  taking 
them  from  his  place. 

The  President  gave  the  Prince  a  very  strenuous  day 
when  they  took  a  long  horseback  ride  over  the  hills 
and  across  the  valleys  and  streams  around  Washington 
in  a  pouring  rain.  The  Prince  was  game  and  kept 
beside  the  Rough  Rider,  but  the  uniform  he  wore  was 
a  wreck. 

The  Philippine  Islands  absorbed  a  great  deal  of  atten 
tion  about  this  time.  The  settlement  of  the  friar  land 
question  was  very  important.  Governor  Taft,  who  had 
been  on  a  visit  to  the  United  States,  went  to  Manila  by 
the  eastern  route  and  stopped  at  Rome  to  confer  with 

the  Vatican. 

24 


37°        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Before  Taft  went  to  Rome  there  occurred  one  of  the 
apparently  trivial  incidents  that  have  a  great  deal  of 
influence  in  settling  important  questions.  A  brother 
of  Cardinal  Merry  del  Val,  the  Papal  Secretary,  was  in 
the  United  States.  Senor  del  Val  was  on  his  way  to 
the  western  coast  of  South  America  to  sell  guns  to  some 
of  those  countries  and  called  himself  a  ''gunman.'*  He 
called  on  General  Clarence  R.  Edwards,  who  was  chief  of 
the  Insular  Bureau  in  the  War  Department,  and  who 
knew  all  about  Philippine  affairs.  Later  in  the  day 
Edwards  received  a  message  asking : 

"Will  the  plain  soldier  dine  with  the  gunman  this 
evening?" 

Edwards  accepted,  and  these  two  talked  for  hours 
about  the  Philippines  and  the  friar  lands.  As  a  result 
del  Val  wired  a  cancellation  of  his  steamship  reserva 
tion  from  San  Francisco  to  South  America,  cabled  his 
brother,  the  Cardinal,  that  he  would  be  in  Rome  in  ten 
days  and  sailed  for  Europe  immediately. 

For  the  conduct  of  the  friar  land  negotiations  he  had 
all  the  necessary  information,  and  this  he  gave  to  his 
brother,  with  the  advice  that  the  terms  which  Governor 
Taft  would  offer  when  he  arrived  should  at  once  be 
accepted. 

It  did  not  take  Governor  Taft  long  to  come  to  an  under 
standing  with  the  Vatican,  and  one  of  the  most  trouble 
some  questions  regarding  the  Philippines  was  settled. 
Incidentally  it  put  the  Administration  and  Governor  Taft 
in  closer  touch  with  the  Catholic  Church,  a  fact  which 
was  felt  in  politics  in  subsequent  elections. 


The  White  House  Wonder        37 J 

There  were  other  troubles.  General  Miles  made  a  tour 
of  the  islands  and  in  a  report  severely  criticized  army 
conditions,  the  " water  cure,"  the  lack  of  food,  and  gave 
a  black  eye  generally  to  American  administration 
in  the  Philippines.  A  greater  outcry  had  been  raised 
over  the  "water  cure"  than  anything  else,  because  it 
came  dangerously  near  torture.  The  soldiers  would 
insert  a  tube  in  the  mouth  of  an  insurrecto  and  pump 
him  full  of  water,  finally  inflicting  such  distress  as  to 
force  him  to  tell  where  arms  and  munitions  were  hidden, 
and  also  to  give  information  as  to  where  hostile  bands 
of  natives  could  be  found.  Secretary  Root  in  a  public 
statement  said  that  Miles  had  misrepresented  condi 
tions  as  they  existed,  and  Roosevelt  issued  an  order  still 
further  restricting  the  activities  of  the  senior  officer  of 
the  Army. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  General  Jake  Smith  was 
court-martialed  and  retired  for  issuing  orders  to  take 
vigorous  measures  to  exterminate  all  insurrectos  who  ill- 
treated  American  soldiers.  And  Major  Waller  of  the 
Marine  Corps  was  the  subject  of  censure  for  cutting  to 
pieces  the  natives  of  Samar  who  blocked  his  way  and 
murdered  his  men.  In  after  years  Jake  Smith  was 
made  the  hero  of  a  Carabao  song,  and  Waller  became 
an  idol  of  fighting  men. 

"Water  cure,"  the  killing  of  women  and  children,  and 
other  horrors  incident  to  war,  were  bad  enough.  But 
it  must  also  be  remembered  that  there  was  great  provo 
cation.  The  Filipinos  were  exceedingly  treacherous; 
they  never  recognized  any  methods  of  warfare,  and 


372        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

women  and  children  were  put  forward  as  shields  to  the 
fighting  men.  American  soldiers  were  cruelly  tortured, 
captives  being  buried  in  the  sand  to  their  necks,  covered 
with  a  syrup  to  attract  the  flies,  and  left  to  die  a  slow 
and  horrible  death. 

But  nearly  everything  that  the  American  Army  was 
doing  in  the  Philippines  at  that  time  was  bitterly  con 
demned  by  the  anti-imperialists  in  this  country,  largely 
for  the  purpose  of  convincing  the  people  that  we  had 
made  a  bad  bargain  in  acquiring  the  islands. 

Curiously  enough  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  Philippine 
campaign,  General  Frederick  Funston,  was  reprimanded 
for  talking  too  much  about  affairs  in  the  islands.  It 
may  seem  strange  that  an  Army  officer  should  be 
reprimanded  by  the  Roosevelt  administration  for  talk 
ing  too  much,  but  Roosevelt  felt  that  he  himself  was 
qualified  to  do  the  necessary  talking  for  the  Army. 

During  the  summer  of  1902,  the  Rochambeau  statue 
in  Lafayette  Park  was  unveiled  and  Roosevelt  attended 
the  ceremonies.  A  French  woman  who  had  married 
an  American  was  one  of  the  interested  participants,  and 
she  sat  near  enough  to  the  President  to  hear  him  converse 
with  the  French  visitors  in  their  own  language. 

' '  He  is  a  devil, ' '  she  afterwards  exclaimed.  '  *  No  one 
but  a  devil  could  speak  French  so  fluently  who  was  not 
born  and  bred  in  France." 

The  remark  recalls  a  later  experience  I  had  in  the 
executive  offices.  I  was  there  to  write  "A  Day  in  the 
White  House,"  and  one  amusing  incident  related  to 
Roosevelt's  command  of  languages.  A  procession  of 


The  White  House  Wonder        373 

visitors  went  by  shaking  hands  with  the  President, 
some  of  them  stopping  to  talk  for  a  moment.  One  of 
them  presented  a  card,  and  the  President  talked  with  him 
in  German.  Then  he  spoke  in  English  to  the  next  man. 
The  following  man  was  a  Frenchman,  and  the  President 
conversed  with  him  in  French,  resuming  English  to  the 
next  in  line.  But  a  thought  struck  him,  and  turning 
to  me,  while  the  procession  was  halted,  he  said  in  his 
intense  manner  when  amused  or  pleased  with  himself : 

"To  jump  from  English  into  German  and  from  Ger 
man  back  into  English ;  and  then  into  French ;  and  then 
to  return  to  English,  requires  a  great  deal  of  linguistic 
acrobatics." 

President  Roosevelt  made  many  trips  during  the 
spring  and  summer  of  1902  and  spoke  frequently  on 
public  affairs.  The  trusts  were  often  the  subject  of  his 
discourse,  and  it  was  evident  that  he  intended  to  urge 
anti-trust  legislation. 

On  one  of  his  trips  he  had  a  very  narrow  escape.  A 
trolley  car  ran  into  his  carriage  near  Pittsfield,  Mass., 
and  he  was  rather  badly  injured.  This  injury  forced 
him  to  abandon  his  tour  after  he  had  gone  as  far  as 
Indiana,  and  he  returned  to  Washington  and  occupied 
temporary  quarters  on  Lafayette  Square  during  the 
remodeling  of  the  White  House. 

It  was  while  in  these  quarters  and  confined  to  the 
house  that  he  decided  to  stop  the  coal  strike,  which  at 
that  time  threatened  grave  consequences  to  the  people 
who  depended  on  anthracite  coal. 

About  the  last  of  September  the  President  called 


374        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

the  operators  of  the  mines  and  John  Mitchell,  the  strike 
leader,  into  conference.  Nothing  was  settled  at  that 
time,  and  it  seemed  that  the  strike  would  go  on.  I 
called  to  see  the  operators  after  the  first  conference  and 
one  of  them  remarked : 

"We  object  to  being  called  here  to  meet  a  criminal, 
even  by  the  President  of  the  United  States." 

He  applied  that  term  to  Mitchell.  Others  were 
scarcely  less  complimentary,  and  it  seemed  rather  strange 
that  these  men  should  make  so  light  of  the  whole  matter 
when  people  were  paying  from  $20  to  $30  per  ton  for 
coal  and  many  could  not  obtain  it  at  any  price. 

But  the  President  was  determined.  He  sent  Secre 
tary  Root  to  New  York  to  confer  with  J.  Pierpont 
Morgan,  and  a  little  later  Morgan  and  Robert  Bacon 
went  to  Washington,  and  after  a  conference  with  the 
President  it  was  announced  that  an  arrangement  had 
been  made  to  reopen  the  mines  pending  an  investigation 
and  settlement  by  a  commission. 

It  was  known  to  only  a  very  few  people  that  in  the 
event  of  a  failure  to  secure  an  agreement  to  resume 
mining  coal  Roosevelt  had  determined  to  order  United 
States  troops  into  Pennsylvania,  at  the  request  of  the 
Governor  of  the  state,  and  to  seize  and  operate  the  mines 
as  a  public  necessity.  Lieut.  General  Schofield,  then 
retired,  was  to  be  in  command  of  the  troops.  That 
Roosevelt  would  have  carried  out  this  plan  there  can 
be  little  doubt,  although  it  was  not  until  years  after 
that  it  was  publicly  known  he  had  such  a  plan  in  con 
templation. 


The  White  House  Wonder        375 

/ 

The  most  interesting  event  politically  in  the  con 
gressional  campaign  of  1902  was  the  declination  of 
Speaker  Henderson  to  be  a  candidate  for  re-election. 
It  started  another  Speakership  contest,  but  it  was  short 
lived,  for  within  a  few  weeks  after  the  election  Joseph 
G.  Cannon,  who  had  waited  so  long  for  the  honor,  was 
endorsed  by  nearly  all  the  Republican  congressional 
delegations. 

Just  after  election  the  name  of  Reed  Smoot  began 
to  appear.  It  was  apparent  that  a  legislature  had  been 
chosen  in  Utah  which  would  elect  him  United  States 
Senator.  At  once  there  was  aroused  opposition  to  the 
election  of  an  Apostle  of  the  Mormon  Church  to  that 
office.  President  Roosevelt  took  a  hand  and  sent  a 
message  by  Senator  Kearns  of  Utah  advising  against 
such  a  choice.  Smoot  asserted  that  Presidential 
interference  was  unwarranted,  and  declared  his  intention 
of  accepting  the  office  if  elected. 

Later,  when  Smoot  had  to  go  through  the  long-drawn- 
out  contest  for  his  seat,  Roosevelt  became  his  champion, 
and  years  after,  even  when  Smoot  was  reckoned  among 
the  most  staunch  standpatters,  and  Roosevelt  a  Pro 
gressive,  the  Senator  acknowledged  the  debt  of  gratitude 
that  he  owed  to  Roosevelt  for  assistance  during  the 
most  trying  period  of  his  life. 

Political  features  of  the  last  part  of  1902  and  the 
early  part  of  1903  were  the  mention  of  Judge  Alton  B. 
Parker  and  William  Randolph  Hearst  for  the  Demo 
cratic  nomination.  Parker  was  suggested  by  Senator 
Mallory  of  Florida,  and  the  Hearst  boom  was  started 


376        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

at  a  Bryan  meeting  in  Ohio,  although  not  endorsed  by 
Bryan.  During  the  winter  Bryan  positively  announced 
that  he  would  not  be  a  candidate  in  1904.  Grover 
Cleveland  was  often  mentioned  for  a  third  term,  and 
this  caused  both  Bryan  and  Tillman  to  don  their  war 
paint  and  say  that  they  would  fight  him  to  the  bitter 
end. 

The  frequent  mention  of  Hanna  for  the  Republican 
nomination  caused  Roosevelt  considerable  anxiety, 
and  there  was  no  doubt,  that  many  of  the  so-called 
"McKinley  crowd"  were  ready  to  rally  to  Hanna's 
support  if  there  seemed  to  be  a  reasonable  chance  of 
his  success. 

Roosevelt  did  not  long  stand  by  the  determination 
he  had  formed  not  to  be  known  as  a  "sporting  Presi 
dent."  He  made  a  trip  into  Virginia  to  shoot  quail, 
and  in  the  autumn  of  1902  he  went  on  the  famous  bear 
hunt  in  Mississippi.  It  was  not  successful  as  no  bears 
were  found,  but  it  resulted  in  giving  the  little  black 
bear  a  standing  in  the  cartoons  of  Clifford  K.  Berryman. 
Berryman  made  a  cartoon  of  Roosevelt  with  gun  in  one 
hand,  waving  away  with  the  other  a  man  who  was 
dragging  a  bear  up  for  Presidential  slaughter.  Ever 
after  Berryman  put  a  little  black  bear  in  his  Roosevelt 
cartoons,  and  the  President  always  referred  to  him  as 
"the  bear  man." 

President  Roosevelt  in  speeches  and  messages  was 
insisting  upon  trust  legislation  during  the  short  session 
of  Congress.  The  Republicans  did  not  want  to  take  it 
up,  and  an  extra  session  was  threatened.  One  day 


The  White  House  Wonder        377 

Senator  Elkins  told  a  number  of  his  colleagues  that 
there  would  be  no  trust  legislation. 

"I  have  just  shown  Attorney  General  Knox  enough 
trust  legislation  now  on  the  statute  books  to  put  every 
concern  in  this  country  out  of  business,  and  after  he 
sees  the  President  I  think  we  shall  have  no  more 
insistence  upon  legislation  at  this  session." 

The  President  was  apparently  satisfied  with  the 
showing  and  the  additional  power  which  was  given  him 
in  the  creation  of  the  Department  of  Commerce  and 
Labor  with  its  bureau  of  corporations.  He  appointed 
George  B.  Cortelyou  head  of  the  new  department,  thus 
promoting  the  best  Secretary  to  the  President  we  had 
ever  known  up  to  that  time,  who  made  way  for  a  still 
better  one  in  William  Loeb,  Jr. 

)    "I  took  Panama;  it  was  the  only  way  the  canal 
/could  be  constructed." 

So  asserted  Theodore  Roosevelt  many  years  after  he 
had  left  the  White  House  and  when  the  first  ships  were 
passing  through  the  canal.  The  "taking"  occurred  on 
November  3,  1903.  Echoes  of  that  affair  have  been 
heard  during  all  the  subsequent  years,  and  several  times 
a  political  issue  has  been  raised  concerning  the  part 
played  by  Roosevelt  in  establishing  the  Republic  of 
Panama.  At  all  events,  it  was  necessary  to  get  the 
strip  of  isthmus  to  construct  the  canal  and  it  was 
obtained. 

Much  has  been  written  and  printed  concerning  that 
revolution  and  as  to  how  it  was  brought  about.  The 
cable  signed  "Loomis,  acting,"  asking  if  there  was  a 


378        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

revolution,  has  often  been  quoted,  but  no  one  has  ever 
thought  to  make  inquiry  as  to  the  origin  of  the  dispatch 
which  first  prematurely  announced  the  revolt. 

Francis  B.  Loomis,  First  Assistant  Secretary  of  State, 
was  acting  secretary  on  the  day  of  the  revolution,  and 
the  query  has  often  been  made  why  he  should  cable  to 
inquire  if  there  was  a  revolution.  Those  who  want  to 
prove  that  this  Government  fostered  and  promoted  the 
revolution  assert  that  the  Loomis  dispatch  is  virtually 
an  admission  of  knowledge  by  the  Government  that  a 
revolution  was  to  take  place. 

In  the  afternoon  papers  of  the  United  States  on 
Nov.  3,  1903,  appeared  this  dispatch: 

"Colon,  Nov.  3. — It  is  rumored  here  that  startling 
developments,  pointing  to  the  independence  of  the 
isthmus,  are  on  foot.  Everything,  however,  is  quiet 
here." 

If  that  dispatch  was  written  in  Washington  it  would 
be  fairly  good  evidence  that  some  one  in  Washington 
knew  that  a  revolution  was  about  to  take  place.  If 
my  information  is  correct,  the  dispatch  never  was 
cabled  from  Panama  or  Colon,  but  was  written  in 
Washington. 

What  is  the  use  of  quibbling?  Everybody  on  the 
inside  of  affairs  knew  there  was  to  be  a  revolution. 
They  knew  it  would  take  place  on  the  arrival  of  the 
American  warships.  One  of  the  warships  cabled  the 
announcement  of  its  arrival  at  Colon,  hence  the  dispatch 
indicating  a  revolution. 


The  White  House  Wonder        379 

The  Republic  of  Panama  was  established  because 
Roosevelt  had  determined  to  build  the  canal  while  he 
was  President,  and  it  could  not  have  been  commenced 
under  the  conditions  which  Colombia  had  created  in 
regard  to  the  Hay-Herran  treaty.  The  best  evidence 
that  Roosevelt's  action  was  approved  by  this  country 
was  afforded  when  the  treaty  with  Panama  was  ratified 
by  more  than  a  two- thirds  vote  of  the  Senate. 

Roosevelt  made  his  great  campaign  tour  in  1903.  It 
was  a  trip  of  sixty-six  days,  and  he  visited  most  of  the 
states  and  practically  settled  the  nomination  of  1904. 
It  was  while  on  this  trip  that  a  very  great  blow  was 
struck  at  the  Hanna  boom,  which  had  been  more  or  less 
troublesome  to  Roosevelt. 

While  the  President  was  in  Washington  state  the 
question  was  raised  in  Ohio  as  to  whether  the  Repub 
lican  convention  should  endorse  Roosevelt  for  President 
in  1904.  Senator  Foraker  was  for  endorsement. 
"  Roosevelt  is  pretty  quick  on  the  trigger,"  he  remarked, 
"but  he  has  made  few  mistakes."  Senator  Hanna  was 
against  any  action.  Finally,  Hanna  decided  to  put  it 
up  to  Roosevelt  and  sent  a  telegram  which  stated  the 
situation  and  asked  for  a  reply. 

"I  see  no  reason  why  the  Republicans  of  Ohio  should 
not  endorse  me  if  they  are  for  me,"  was  the  substance 
of  Roosevelt's  reply,  and  that  settled  it. 

During  the  trip  Roosevelt  spent  several  days  in 
Yellowstone  Park  studying  nature  with  John  Bur 
roughs.  He  barred  the  newspaper  correspondents  and 
all  others,  save  the  photographers. 


380        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

"Oh,  you  couldn't  expect  him  to  bar  the  photog 
raphers,"  remarked  John  Hay  to  a  few  close  friends. 
"I  can  imagine  what  is  taking  place. 

"'We  want  this  picture  to  be  complete.  Bring  out 
that  buffalo,  and  have  him  stand  as  a  background. 
Have  that  Indian  stand  beside  that  beaver.  Bring 
me  that  grizzly  bear  and  mountain  lion  and  I  will  stand 
between  them.  Mr.  Burroughs,  you  are  a  little  too 
much  in  the  foreground,  and  will  obscure  the  center  of 
the  picture.  That's  better.  Now,  I  think  we  are 
ready.  Go  ahead,  Mr.  Picture  Man." 

And  the  Secretary  of  State  gave  a  very  fair  imitation 
of  the  Roosevelt  voice  and  gestures. 

During  the  summer  of  1903  Professor  S.  P.  Langley 
made  his  final  attempt  to  send  his  flying  machine  into 
the  air,  and  it  failed  simply  on  account  of  an  accident. 
A  misplaced  rope  bent  one  of  the  planes  and  caused  it  to 
tip  downward  instead  of  soaring  aloft  as  Langley  ex 
pected.  But  although  he  did  not  see  his  own  creation 
fly,  before  the  year  ended,  the  Wrights,  with  a  machine 
constructed  on  the  same  principle,  demonstrated  that 
the  machine  was  a  success.  And  long  after  Langley 's 
death  the  machine  which  he  constructed  was  made  to 
fly,  just  as  the  splendid  genius  believed  it  would. 
Langley  built  the  first  flying  machine. 

General  Nelson  A.  Miles  retired  during  the  summer. 
It  was  an  unfortunate  circumstance  that  his  relations 
with  the  President  and  Secretary  of  War  were  such  that, 
after  forty -two  years  of  service  and  participation  in  the 
Civil  War,  numerous  Indian  campaigns,  and  the  Spanish 


The  White  House  Wonder        381 

war,  he  went  on  the  retired  list  without  a  word  of  com 
mendation  such  as  other  officers  of  his  distinction  had 
received.  Both  Roosevelt  and  Root  would  have  been 
glad  to  commend  his  Civil  and  Indian  war  record,  but 
they  felt  too  keenly  the  conduct  of  General  Miles  after  the 
Spanish  war  to  offer  him  flowery  language  when  he  left 
the  service. 

/  At  that  time  the  general  staff  law  went  into  effect. 
The  Chief  of  Staff  as  the  head  of  the  Army  was  en 
sconced  in  the  office  next  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
formerly  occupied  by  the  Adjutant  General.  This 
gave  the  Chief  of  Staff  the  place  of  vantage.  The 
Adjutant  General  became  the  "outsider." 

The  legislation  creating  a  general  staff  was  not  passed 
without  giving  General  Ainsworth  another  promotion. 
He  became  Military  Secretary,  successor  of  the  Adju 
tant  General,  with  rank  of  major  general.  By  the 
creation  of  this  new  position  Ainsworth  was  able  to  get 
possession  of  the  Adjutant  General's  department.  Sub 
sequently  the  old  name  was  restored,  but  not  with  the 
power  the  office  once  exercised.  Ainsworth  tried  to 
hold  the  power,  with  the  result  that  there  was  a  serious 
contest  when  a  man  of  force  became  Chief  of  Staff. 
That  happened  when  General  Leonard  Wood  advanced 
to  the  head  of  the  army.  The  row  between  Ainsworth 
and  Wood  reminds  me  of  a  remark  made  by  General 
Jack  Weston,  who  always  said  what  he  thought.  It 
was  after  the  staff  legislation  had  passed,  and  it  was  only 
a  question  of  time  until  Wood  as  the  senior  major 
general  would  become  Chief  of  Staff. 


382        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

"There  is  one  satisfaction  about  it,"  said  Weston. 
"The  time  is  coming  when  two  doctors  will  fight  it  out, 
and  it  will  be  a  sight  like  that  which  follows  when  a 
small  boy  ties  two  cats  together  by  their  tails  and 
flings  them  over  a  clothes  line." 

He  alluded  to  the  fact  that  both  Ainsworth  and  Wood 
started  as  surgeons  in  their  army  career. 

Weston 's  prediction  was  well  nigh  borne  out.  The 
contest  between  these  men,  who  were  formerly  in  the 
medical  corps,  was  one  of  the  interesting  features  of  the 
flat-top  desk  and  swivel  chair  army  life  in  Washington. 
Wood  came  out  victorious  because  he  could  keep  his 
temper  and  had  the  backing  of  the  Administration. 
Ainsworth  could  not  refrain  from  putting  into  his  official 
correspondence  the  bitter  and  caustic  things  he  was 
capable  of  saying,  and  that  finally  proved  his  undoing. 
They  were  about  to  court  martial  him  when  he  retired, 
leaving  peace  and  quiet  to  some  extent,  but  a  smolder 
ing  row  in  the  military  affairs  of  the  department. 

About  the  time  Mr.  Taft  became  President,  Ains 
worth  was  in  full  swing  and  was  constantly  getting  the 
better  of  General  Frank  Bell,  who  was  Chief  of  Staff  before 
Wood  was  selected.  Taft  knew  the  War  Department 
and  all  the  existing  conditions. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  about  the  War  Depart 
ment?"  I  asked,  Mr.  Taft  understanding  that  I  meant 
the  conflict  between  the  Chief  of  Staff  and  the 
Adjutant  General. 

"I  don't  know  just  yet,"  he  replied;  "I  may  have  to 
use  an  axe  on  Ainsworth." 


The  White  House  Wonder        383 

They  were  carefully  figuring  out  how  they  might  get 
rid  of  him  by  sending  him  to  a  distant  command,  or  by 
forcing  his  retirement. 

One  interesting  event  of  1903  was  the  election 
of  George  B.  McClellan  as  mayor  of  New  York, 
McClellan  had  been  in  Congress  a  number  of  years 
but  he  was  not  in  harmony  with  his  party.  On 
occasions,  and  owing  to  the  habitual  absence  of  many 
New  York  members,  McClellan  would  be  the  sole  and 
solitary  member  voting  against  all  other  members  of 
the  party.  Sometimes  he  would  be  supported  by  John 
J.  Fitzgerald  of  Brooklyn,  but  he  was  so  often  alone 
that  we  had  a  standing  joke  about  the  "McClellan 
Democracy. " 

When  he  returned  to  Washington  after  the  election 
to  serve  two  months  in  the  House,  I  congratulated  him 
on  his  election,  and  he  remarked : 

"The  McClellan  Democracy  has  grown." 

His  election  as  mayor  made  him  a  Presidential  possi 
bility  and  he  was  discussed  as  a  candidate.  Then  arose 
a  question  as  to  his  eligibility,  he  having  been  born  in 
Germany  during  a  visit  of  his  parents  to  that  land. 

"Is  a  man  barred  because  he  was  born  beside  the 
Elbe,  though  both  his  parents  were  Americans?" 
McClellan  asked. 

But  there  was  another  reason.  New  York  had 
another  candidate. 

Between  McClellan  and  Samuel  W.  McCall  of  Massa 
chusetts  there  was  a  warm  personal  friendship.  It  was 
undoubtedly  fostered  by  the  fact  that  they  were  often 


384        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

almost  alone  in  their  votes,  though  not  agreeing  with 
each  other  on  any  question.  McCall  was  not  in  har 
mony  with  his  party  on  the  insular  legislation  growing 
out  of  the  Spanish  war,  nor  could  he  become  recon 
ciled  to  the  Supreme  Court  decisions  upholding  that 
legislation.  In  this  he  was  supported  by  Littlefield  of 
Maine.  Both  of  these  statesmen  maintained  that  the 
Court  was  wrong.  And  a  lot  of  other  people  agreed 
with  them,  including  four  members  of  the  Court. 

McCall  used  to  give  a  dinner  every  winter  to  those 
who,  he  said,  were  always  right  on  this  question.  There 
were  six  members  of  the  House  and  two  newspaper 
correspondents.  Besides  McCall  and  Littlefield, 
Vespasian  Warner  and  William  Lorimer  of  Illinois  were 
of  the  number. 

McCall  in  those  days  took  considerable  pride  in 
being  in  a  very  small  minority.  To  bills  in  the  House 
he  often  proposed  amendments  which  would  receive 
only  one  or  two  votes  besides  his  own.  Once  he  offered 
an  amendment,  debated  it,  and  secured  a  vote  which 
was  supported  by  sixteen  other  members  of  the  House. 
As  he  passed  up  the  aisle  he  remarked  to  a  friend : 

"No  distinction  in  that  vote.  I  have  too  many 
supporters." 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

THE  MAN  OF  DESTINY 

The  President  Calls  an  Extra  Session  to  Speed  the  Work  of  Congress- 
Cannon  Speaker;  Williams  Minority  Leader— Way  Cleared  for 
Roosevelt— Bitter  Fight  on  General  Wood— Politics  in  Congress. 

DRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT  was  anxious  to  have 
Congress  transact  all  its  business  and  adjourn 
early  in  the  campaign  of  1904,  and  to  expedite  matters 
he  called  the  Fifty-eighth  Congress  in  extra  session 
early  in  November,  1903.  The  election  a  year  before 
had  caused  a  number  of  changes  in  the  Senate. 
Among  the  new  Senators  were  James  P.  Clarke  of 
Arkansas,  who  succeeded  James  K.  Jones;  Arthur  P. 
Gorman  of  Maryland;  William  J.  Stone  of  Missouri, 
who  succeeded  George  G.  Vest;  Francis  G.  Newlands 
of  Nevada,  who  succeeded  John  P.  Jones;  Lee  S. 
Overman  of  North  Carolina ;  Reed  Smoot  of  Utah. 

Of  the  men  who  passed  out  of  public  life  and  made 
way  for  successors,  the  two  Joneses  and  Vest  were  the 
most  prominent.  Twice  had  Jones  of  Arkansas  been 
chairman  of  the  Democratic  national  committee.  He 
had  been  eighteen  years  in  the  Senate,  and  there  was 
general  regret  among  his  friends  when  he  was  defeated. 
Jones  had  been  a  private  in  the  Confederacy ,  and  that 
fact  appeared  in  his  biography,  in  which  he  alluded  to 
2*  385 


386        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

the  Civil  War  as  the  "late  unpleasantness,"  a  phrase 
made  famous  by  a  statesman  during  the  reconstruction 
days. 

Jones  of  Nevada  had  been  thirty  years  in  the  Senate. 
— or  rather  held  a  seat  there,  for  he  was  irregular  in 
his  attendance.  He  was  more  of  a  Senator  from  Cali 
fornia  than  Nevada,  but  it  always  has  been  one  of  the 
standing  jokes  of  the  Senate  that  California  has  four 
Senators,  two  being  elected  from  Nevada.  Jones  went 
to  California  by  way  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  He 
lived  in  many  parts  of  the  new  Golden  State  and  had  a 
fund  of  stories  that  matched  the  tales  of  Bret  Harte. 
He  was  one  of  those  splendid  products  of  the  days  when 
the  Western  Wonderland  was  in  process  of  develop 
ment. 

Vest  of  Missouri  was  one  of  the  most  flowery  speakers 
that  ever  held  a  place  in  the  Senate.  He  was  gifted  in 
his  power  of  utterance,  and  when  the  fancy  seized  him 
he  could  pour  a  stream  of  glittering  oratorical  gems  into 
the  Senate  chamber,  and,  what  was  all  the  more  pleas 
ing,  it  never  seemed  to  require  any  effort  on  his  part. 
He  was  one  of  the  wonderful  story  tellers,  Tones  of 
Nevada  being  his  only  rival  in  that  line.  Vest  was  not 
among  the  last  of  the  Confederates,  but  he  was  the  last 
of  those  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  who  had  been 
members  of  the  Confederate  Senate. 

The  successor  of  Vest,  William  J.  Stone,  was  a  most 
interesting  personality.  His  prominence  later  and  the 
fact  that  he,  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations,  found  Henry  Cabot  Lodge  the  leader  of  the 


The  Man  of  Destiny  387 

minority  of  that  committee,  impels  me  to  couple  these 
men  at  this  time  in  a  brief  reference  to  days  when  both 
were  young  and  almost  new  in  Congress. 

Both  were  members  of  the  Fifty-first  Congress, 
Lodge  the  friend  and  protege  of  Speaker  Reed,  Stone 
the  somewhat  isolated  man  from  Missouri,  making  his 
own  way.  They  represented  two  distinct  sections  of 
the  country;  two  different  schools  of  thought;  of  vastly 
different  training  and  environment. 

Lodge  was  a  polished,  scholarly  New  England  man, 
with  an  ancestry  reaching  back  to  the  early  settlers 
of  America.  Stone  was  typical  of  the  Southwest,  of 
ancestors  who  were  backwoodsmen  and  had  pushed 
across  the  Alleghenies,  continually  looking  farther 
westward,  strong  in  mind  and  body,  conquerors  of  the 
wilderness.  With  characteristics  of  those  brave  times 
still  dominant  in  his  composition,  he  met  the  man  who 
was  the  product  of  centuries  of  culture. 

The  contest  between  them  in  the  early  days  showed 
the  difference  in  their  origin  and  training.  Lodge, 
calm  and  master  of  his  words,  Stone  vehement,  with 
language  more  forceful  than  elegant. 

Stone  changed  more  with  the  passing  years.  When 
he  came  to  the  Senate  he  had  added  a  polish  and  style 
that  were  very  unlike  the  old  days.  He  used  the  rapier 
where  he  once  wielded  the  bludgeon  and  was  far  more 
effective,  a  match  in  fine  humor  and  sarcasm  for  any 
man  in  the  Senate. 

There  was  a  natural  rivalry  between  these  men  when 
they  first  met  in  the  House,  and  it  was  resumed  when 


388        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

they  faced  each  other  across  the  party  dividing  line  in 
the  Senate.  Their  differences  were  conducted  on  a 
more  dignified  plane  in  the  later  years,  but  differences 
there  were,  differences  of  sections,  differences  of  three 
hundred  years  of  environment. 

Joseph  G.  Cannon  reached  the  summit  of  his  ambi 
tion  when  he  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House  in  the 
Fall  of  1903.  He  had  waited  long  and  met  several 
defeats,  but  it  was  a  proud  moment  for  him  when  he 
was  sworn  in  as  ruler  of  the  House,  and  ruler  he  was  for 
years — until  there  came  a  day  of  revolution. 

John  Sharp  Williams  became  the  minority  leader  of 
the  House.  This  was  a  setback  for  Champ  Clark,  who 
would  have  secured  the  position  if  David  A.  De  Armond 
had  not  again  been  a  candidate.  As  he  was  the  senior 
from  Missouri,  the  delegation  of  that  state  voted  for 
De  Armond,  and  the  other  Democrats  turned  to  Wil 
liams.  De  Armond  was  a  very  able  man,  a  master  of 
caustic  language,  delivered  in  a  rasping  and  unpleasing 
tone  of  voice.  He  was  a  partisan  of  such  intensity  that 
he  refused  to  become  intimately  acquainted  with  men 
of  opposite  political  faith.  He  did  not  want  to  have 
any  personal  relations  which  might  hamper  him  when 
he  felt  called  upon  at  any  time  to  arraign  severely  men 
of  the  Republican  party.  He  was  made  Williams's 
second  in  command,  but  their  relations  were  not  cordial 
and  at  one  time  resulted  in  a  personal  encounter. 

Early  in  the  session  Senator  Newlands  of  Nevada 
was  afforded  an  opportunity  to  break  into  the  Senate 
debate,  and  he  ever  after  spoke  as  long  and  often  as  he 


The  Man  of  Destiny  389 

pleased.  Newlands,  as  a  member  of  the  House,  had 
introduced  the  resolution  for  the  annexation  of  Hawaii, 
and  started  his  Senate  career  with  a  resolution  for  the 
annexation  of  Santo  Domingo. 

This  aroused  Senator  Hale  of  Maine.  He  was  against 
all  kinds  of  expansion,  and  particularly  against  acquir 
ing  such  populations  as  inhabited  Santo  Domingo.  In 
a  speech  bristling  with  the  sarcasm  he  could  command, 
he  scored  the  proposition  of  Newlands,  in  unmeasured 
terms. 

Newlands  was  pleased  because  it  afforded  him  an 
opportunity  to  break  right  into  a  speaking  part.  For 
years  he  had  been  suppressed  in  the  House,  but  here 
was  his  real  opportunity  and  he  made  the  most  of  it. 

Ever  after,  however,  there  was  a  marked  hostility 
between  the  two  Senators.  Once  when  Hale  had  charge 
of  a  naval  appropriation  bill,  Newlands  interrupted  the 
proceedings.  Hale  never  liked  to  have  his  bills  de 
bated,  and  he  disliked  the  interference  of  Newlands. 
In  those  days  the  Nevada  Senator  wore  rather  striking 
vests,  in  fact  he  was  a  rival  of  Tim  Woodruff  in  this 
regard,  and  the  day  he  interfered  with  Hale's  naval  bill 
he  had  on  one  of  varied  colors. 

"I  see,"  said  Newlands,  with  a  copy  of  the  bill  in  his 
hands,  "that  in  one  place  this  bill  provides  for  armor 
and  in  another  for  armament.  Can  the  Senator  from 
Maine  tell  me  if  there  is  any  difference?" 

" There  is  as  much  difference,"  replied  Hale,  with 
grave  deliberation,  "between  armor  and  armament  as 
there  is  between  the  paper  which  the  Senator  holds 


39°        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

in  his  hand  and" — the  hesitation  was  for  effect — "the 
Senator's  brilliant  waistcoat." 

So  far  as  it  dared  the  Senate  snickered,  and  New- 
lands,  only  slightly  perturbed,  came  back  for  more. 

"The  Senator  from  Maine  jests  with  my  ignorance," 
he  said. 

"No,  Mr.  President,"  said  Hale,  shaking  his  keys, 
and  looking  very  solemn ;  "  I  never  presume  to  jest  with 
anything  quite  so  monumental." 

Hale  could  do  such  things  and  get  away  with  them. 

Mark  Hanna  died  in  1904.  His  death  cleared  the 
way  for  Roosevelt.  ' '  I  am  glad  I'm  not  in  Roosevelt's 
way, ' '  said  a  man  prominent  in  public  life.  ' '  Garrett  A. 
Hobart  died  and  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  be  nomi 
nated  for  Vice  President.  William  McKinley  was 
killed  and  made  him  President,  and  now  Mark  Hanna, 
the  only  possible  obstacle  to  his  nomination  for  an 
other  term,  has  died.  I  tell  you  I  would  hate  to  be  in 
that  man's  way  when  he  wanted  something." 

Whether  or  not  he  was  jesting,  the  fact  was  beyond 
question  that  with  Hanna 's  death  there  was  no  further 
question  of  Roosevelt's  nomination.  Hanna  had  been 
much  discussed  as  a  Presidential  possibility,  and  it 
seemed  altogether  likely  that  he  might  be  put  forward 
by  the  opponents  of  Roosevelt,  by  big  business  and 
other  elements  that  were  somewhat  alarmed  by  the 
course  the  President  was  pursuing. 

Hanna 's  death  also  paved  the  way  for  the  confirma 
tion  of  Leonard  Wood  as  major  general.  Roosevelt 
found  the  former  colonel  of  his  Rough  Riders  at  the  top 


The  Man  of  Destiny  391 

of  the  list  of  brigadier  generals,  and  when  a  vacancy 
occurred  in  the  list  of  major  generals,  he  promoted 
Wood. 

Hanna's  opposition  was  due  to  his  friendship  for 
E.  G.  Rathbone,  an  Ohio  man  who  was  in  the  Cuban 
service  and  retired  under  a  cloud.  Rathbone  blamed 
Wood,  who  was  Governor-General  of  Cuba  at  the  time, 
for  his  difficulties,  and  devoted  himself  to  a  fight  against 
Wood's  confirmation. 

Senator  Foraker  was  the  particular  champion  of 
Wood  in  the  Senate,  and  throughout  the  long  contest 
he  did  everything  he  could  to  bring  about  his  confirma 
tion.  After  Hanna's  death  the  fight  against  Wood  was 
carried  on  by  Senator  Scott  of  West  Virginia.  He  had 
been  a  friend  of  Hanna  from  the  first,  and  had  been  an 
open  supporter  of  Hanna  for  President  for  several 
months  preceding  the  death  of  the  Ohio  Senator. 

There  have  been  few  contests  of  a  more  bitter  charac 
ter  over  the  promotion  of  any  army  officer  than  that 
which  was  made  against  General  Wood,  and  everything 
possible  was  done  to  discredit  him.  The  people  of  the 
United  States  learned  about  a  Cuban  game  called  Jai 
Alai,  in  which  gambling  was  a  principal  feature.  It  was 
alleged  that  Wood  allowed  the  game  to  go  on  in  Cuba 
and  had  been  too  friendly  with  the  men  who  conducted 
it.  As  a  part  of  the  testimony  the  implements  used  in 
Jai  Alai  were  introduced  in  the  Senate,  curved  racquet 
and  balls,  and  it  was  said  that  in  one  of  the  executive 
sessions  of  the  Senate  there  was  a  partial  exhibition  of 
how  the  game  was  played. 


392        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

But  in  time  the  general  was  confirmed  and  became 
one  of  the  most  prominent  officers  in  the  army. 

A  story  was  told  about  that  time  showing  the  power 
of  executive  influence,  though  it  may  have  happened 
in  a  previous  administration.  One  Senator  was  in 
clined  to  oppose  the  confirmation  of  an  army  appoint 
ment.  This  Senator  had  recommended  a  man  for 
United  States  Marshal  in  his  state,  but  the  appointment 
was  not  made.  The  applicant  came  to  Washington  to 
find  out  why  he  was  not  appointed. 

"It  seems,"  explained  the  Senator,  "that  I  have  sort 
of  lost  my  pull  at  the  White  House.  I  have  been  op 
posing  the  confirmation  of  an  army  officer  and  the 
President  doesn't  like  it.'* 

"Why  are  you  opposing  the  confirmation?"  asked 
the  applicant. 

"Well,  you  see,"  replied  the  Senator,  "I  have 
conscientious  scruples " 

"Conscientious  scruples,  hell!"  exclaimed  the  appli 
cant.  "I  had  conscientious  scruples  about  electing 
you  Senator,  but  I  overcame  them.  I  don't  think  I'll 
be  able  to  next  time." 

As  the  man  was  a  powerful  politician  at  home  the 
Senator  saw  a  great  light.  He  overcame  his  conscien 
tious  scruples  and  voted  for  the  army  confirmation. 
And  in  due  time  his  man  was  appointed  United  States 
Marshal. 

"I  have  never  had  any  conscientious  scruples  since 
when  it  came  to  a  matter  of  supporting  anything  a 
President  of  my  party  wanted,"  he  said  afterwards. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

CAMPAIGN  OF    1904 

Republican  Convention  According  to  Schedule — Spooner  Declines  to 
Cast  Half  a  Vote— Warmouth  on  Hanna— Would  He  Have  Been 
Nominated? — Democratic  Convention  Nominates  Parker,  but 
Byran  is  Central  Figure — The  Gold  Telegram — Democrats  Gather 
to  Share  Rumored  Four-Million-Dollar  Campaign  Fund — Repub 
licans  Win  an  Easy  Victory — Church  Influence — Roosevelt 
Announces  He  Will  Not  Accept  Another  Nomination. 

A  CONVENTION  where  everything  has  been  deter- 
*"  mined  beforehand,  including  the  nomination  of 
President,  Vice  President,  the  platform,  and  even  the 
chairman  of  the  national  committee,  affords  mighty 
little  real  interest.  It  was  generally  asserted  of  the 
Republican  convention  at  Chicago  in  1904  that  it  not 
only  lacked  interest,  but  enthusiasm,  and  to  a  great 
extent  that  was  true.  We  went  there  knowing  that 
Roosevelt  would  be  nominated  for  President,  that 
Fairbanks  would  be  nominated  for  Vice  President,  and 
that  Cortelyou  would  be  chairman  of  the  national  com 
mittee.  All  that  was  material  in  the  platform  was  also 
generally  known. 

The  settlement  of  the  contests  from  the  South  had 
no  bearing  on  the  result,  and  were  therefore  of  no 
particular  interest.  But  it  was  while  they  were  being 
considered  that  former  Governor  Henry  C.  Warmouth  of 

393 


394        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Louisiana  made  a  remark  which  showed  the  basis  of 
the  Hanna  talk  that  had  been  heard  earlier  in  the  year. 
We  were  standing  in  one  of  the  rooms  adjoining  the 
convention  hall. 

"If  Mark  Hanna  had  not  died  he  would  have  been 
nominated  in  that  hall  by  this  convention,"  declared 
Warmouth,  pointing  to  the  main  auditorium.  ' '  Hanna 
would  have  controlled  the  delegates  from  the  South,  and 
the  business  interests  would  have  controlled  enough 
delegates  in  the  East  to  have  insured  his  nomination. 
I  know  what  I  am  talking  about." 

I  have  always  wondered  just  how  much  he  knew. 

There  was  one  contest  that  was  particularly  interest 
ing.  La  Follette  was  fighting  Spooner  in  Wisconsin 
and  contested  the  four  delegates-at-large.  It  was  a  very 
bitter  affair,  and  Roosevelt  was  asked  to  interfere  and 
try  to  harmonize  the  situation. 

"Roosevelt  wants  me  to  divide  with  La  Follette," 
Spooner  told  me  one  night,  "and  admit  both  delega 
tions  with  half  a  vote  each.  I  haven't  yet  reached  the 
stage  in  politics  where  I  am  willing  to  cast  half  a 
vote." 

He  was  very  sore.  "You  know  how  I  have  stood 
up  for  and  defended  the  President  in  the  Senate,"  he 
continued.  "I  have  supported  him  all  the  time  and 
there  never  has  been  any  question  of  going  half  way  in 
defense  of  his  Administration.  His  course  in  this  mat 
ter  is  a  great  surprise  to  me — or  would  be  if  I  were  not 
pretty  well  acquainted  with  him." 

But  Spooner  won  in  the  convention.     The  majority 


Campaign  of  1904  395 

of  the  Republicans  were  not  any  more  enamored  of 
La  Follette  than  they  were  in  after  years. 

It  was  during  the  convention  that  Secretary  Hay's 
cable  to  the  consul  in  Morocco  was  read : 

"We  want  Perdicaris  alive  or  Raisuli  dead." 

That  was  the  message  to  the  bandits  who  held  for 
ransom  an  American  citizen  in  Northern  Africa. 

George  W.  Cortelyou  furnished  a  bit  of  discussion 
after  the  convention  when  he  accepted  the  election  of 
chairman  of  the  national  committee.  In  thanking  the 
national  committee  he  told  the  members  that  he  would 
be  glad  to  have  advice,  but  ' '  would  accept  no  dictation 
from  any  one,  high  or  low." 

Many  of  the  members  commented  upon  the  difference 
between  the  new  chairman  and  the  one  who  had  held 
the  place  for  eight  years,  and  most  of  them  regretted 
the  loss  of  Hanna.  Some  of  them  expressed  the  fear 
that  the  campaign  would  be  a  failure  in  the  hands  of  an 
inexperienced  politician  like  Cortelyou.  They  did  not 
know  that  Cortelyou  would  simply  be  the  mouthpiece 
of  the  nominee,  who  had  developed  into  one  of  the 
shrewdest  politicians  the  country  had  produced. 

In  view  of  the  statement  of  Governor  Warmouth  and 
the  talk  that  had  been  heard  about  Hanna  before  his 
death,  I  asked  a  number  of  his  friends  if  he  would  have 
sought  the  nomination.  They  were  not  sure,  but  they 
did  know  that  Hanna  had  never  restrained  any  of  his 
friends  who  were  talking  about  him  for  the  position.  It 
was  known  that  Roosevelt  feared  that  Hanna  would  enter 
the  race  and  complicate  the  pre-convention  campaign. 


396        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Roosevelt  did  not  want  a  political  fight  of  that  kind, 
and  for  a  few  months  before  the  death  of  Hanna  he  was 
" making  up"  to  him  in  his  well-known  fashion. 

Marcus  A.  Hanna  was  prominent  in  national  politics 
only  eight  years.  While  he  had  been  a  delegate  and  an 
active  man  at  two  national  conventions,  it  was  only 
when  he  decided  to  make  McKinley  President  that  he 
became  a  national  figure. 

A  very  remarkable  man  was  Hanna.  A  man  who 
had  amassed  a  great  fortune;  strong  mentally,  jovial, 
kindly,  generous,  devoted  to  his  friends,  and  ever  active 
in  their  behalf;  possessed  of  a  charming  personality,  he 
made  a  friend  of  every  man  he  met. 

The  Democrats  have  a  way  of  making  most  of  their 
conventions  interesting.  Everybody  went  to  St.  Louis 
in  1904  with  the  same  idea — to  see  Alton  B.  Parker 
nominated,  with  a  little  interesting  side  show  in  the 
choice  of  a  candidate  for  Vice  President,  and  perhaps 
a  scrap  over  the  platform.  It  was  known  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  delegates  were  for  Parker,  or  would  be 
after  a  first-choice  ballot.  There  was  some  doubt  as 
to  just  what  William  J.  Bryan  would  do,  and  that 
doubt  furnished  the  preliminary  interest.  And  it  also 
turned  out  that  Bryan,  as  before  and  since,  was  the 
central  figure  of  the  convention,  and  responsible  for 
the  sensations. 

The  convention  had  not  been  long  under  way  before 
he  made  a  fight  on  the  Illinois  crowd  then  in  control 
and  tried  to  have  the  delegation  thrown  out.  Failing 
in  that  he  went  into  the  committee  on  resolutions  and 


Campaign  of  1904  397 

had  the  gold  plank  removed  from  the  platform  after  it 
had  been  inserted  by  the  sub -committee. 

In  discussing  the  Illinois  case  Bryan  said  that,  if 
there  was  one  thing  more  firmly  established  than  any 
other  in  Democratic  principles,  it  was  that  a  majority 
should  rule.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether 
he  recalled  that  utterance  when  in  1912  he  defeated 
Champ  Clark,  who  on  nine  ballots  had  a  majority  of  all 
the  delegates  at  Baltimore. 

Bryan  next  appeared  as  the  supporter  of  the  Great 
Unknown.  He  reserved  his  nominating  speech  until 
the  last,  and  when  he  stepped  upon  the  platform  every 
body  looked  for  the  big  surprise.  Following  his  tend 
ency  as  to  the  use  of  Biblical  illustrations  he  had  not 
been  talking  long  before  he  compared  himself,  in  a  way, 
to  Saint  Paul.  After  making  reference  to  his  two  cam 
paigns  for  President  and  saying  that  he  appeared  at  that 
time  to  return  his  commission  to  the  Democratic  party, 
he  paraphrased  the  famous  Apostle  by  saying : 

"You  may  dispute  whether  I  have  fought  a  good 
fight,  you  may  dispute  whether  I  have  finished  my 
course,  but  you  cannot  deny  that  I  have  kept  the  faith." 

Then  followed  the  greatest  and  most  enthusiastic 
demonstration  of  the  convention.  The  crowds  sur 
rounding  the  delegates  rose  tier  on  tier  and  made  the 
convention  hall  a  scene  of  wild  excitement  amounting 
to  adulation.  All  this  was  sweetest  music  in  the  Bryan 
ears.  No  doubt  he  enjoyed  it  all  the  more  because 
two-thirds  of  the  delegates  were  sitting  glum  and  silent 
in  their  seats.  They  were  Parker  men  and  knew  that 


398        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Bryan  had  been  stabbing  their  candidate,  and  was  even 
then  going  to  add  a  few  more  knife  thrusts. 

After  half  an  hour  of  oratory  Bryan  announced  that 
Senator  Cockrell  of  Missouri  was  his  choice.  The  an 
nouncement  fell  as  flat  as  a  pancake,  for  everybody 
knew  that  Cockrell  did  not  stand  the  least  chance  of 
being  nominated. 

The  high  light  of  the  convention,  in  fact  the  summit 
of  the  entire  Parker  campaign,  was  the  gold  telegram 
after  Parker  had  been  nominated.  All  night  long  the 
committee  on  resolution  sought  to  reconcile  discordant 
views,  and  finally  brought  forth  a  platform  in  which  the 
money  question  was  tabooed.  It  was  adopted,  and 
then  the  floodgates  of  oratory  followed  with  Parker's 
nomination  on  the  first  ballot. 

Again  there  were  speeches  galore  putting  in  nomina 
tion  a  Vice-Presidential  nominee.  Late  in  the  afternoon 
there  was  consternation  in  the  convention.  Groups  of 
delegates  held  hurried  consultations.  A  mysterious 
paper  was  passed  from  one  leader  to  another.  No  at 
tention  was  paid  to  the  orators  who  were  talking  about 
running  mates  for  Parker. 

All  the  consternation  was  on  account  of  Parker's 
gold  telegram.  It  created  a  panic  among  the  delegates, 

*-     i   __^  ,,  r-^^^"^ 

andif  some  of  the  wise  men  had  not  secured  an  adjourn 
ment,  no  one  can  tell  what  might  have  happened. 

During  the  interval  the  reply  to  Parker  was  fixed  up, 
and  after  a  stormy  time  in  the  convention  it  was  passed. 
This  did  not  happen  until  Bryan  had  offered  an  amend 
ment  and  made  a  number  of  speeches.  Finally,  he 


Campaign  of  1904  399 

withdrew  all  opposition  and,  saying  that  Nebraska 
wanted  Democratic  victory,  acquiesced  in  the  selection 
of  New  York's  candidate  for  Vice  President,  and  thus 
in  a  seeming  mood  of  resignation  he  subsided. 

But  he  had  accomplished  one  important  result.  He 
had  made  Parker's  election  impossible  before  the  con 
vention  adjourned.  He  sent  home  thousands  of  his 
followers  with  the  impression  that  the  advice  of  their 
idol  had  been  scorned  and  that  plutocracy  had  taken 
possession  of  the  Democratic  party. 

However,  it  must  be  said  that  if  there  had  been  no 
Bryan  in  existence,  neither  Parker  nor  any  other  Demo 
crat  could  have  been  elected  that  year.  In  the  first 
place,  the  pendulum  of  politics  was  still  swinging  towards 
Republicanism,  and  in  the  second  place,  Roosevelt  was 
one  of  the  most  popular  men  in  the  country.  At  the 
same  time  Bryan  had  made  it  plain  that  Parker  and 
those  who  had  brought  about  his  nomination  repre 
sented  everything  in  the  party  that  had  been  repudi 
ated  at  Chicago  in  1896  and  at  Kansas  City  in  1900; 
also  that  the  six-million-five-hundred-thousand  Demo 
crats  who  had  been  supporting  Bryan  theretofore  had 
been  slapped  in  the  face. 

It  did  not  take  the  convention  very  long  to  nominate 
Henry  Gassaway  Davis,  the  Grand  Old  Man  of  West 
Virginia,  for  Vice  President.  He  was  then  past  eighty 
and  it  was  asserted  that  he  was  too  old,  yet  he  lived  to 
see  many  of  those  who  were  then  in  the  full  vigor  of 
life  and  many  years  his  junior,  cross  the  Great  Divide. 
It  was  said  by  Elihu  Root,  who  officially  informed 


400        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

Fairbanks  of  his  nomination  as  Vice  President,  that  no 
man  of  such  advanced  years  should  be  placed  in  a  posi 
tion  in  which  he  might  be  called  upon  to  administer  the 
affairs  of  the  government.  Mr.  Root  later  reached  a 
period  when  his  own  advanced  years  were  by  himself 
given  as  a  reason  why  he  should  not  be  named  for 
President. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  one  reason  why  the  venerable 
Davis  was  nominated  was  the  probability  that  in  view 
of  his  immense  fortune  he  would  be  a  liberal  campaign 
contributor.  But  the  Democrats  did  not  get  much 
out  of  Davis.  One  of  the  men  who  knew  him  well  once 
said  that  mighty  little  of  the  Davis  accumulations  would 
ever  go  outside  of  the  Davis  family,  or  for  anything  that 
did  not  glorify  the  Davis  name. 

Henry  G.  Davis  was  an  old-time  resident  of  West 
Virginia.  Stephen  B.  Elkins,  born  in  Ohio,  with  a  Civil 
War  record  in  Missouri,  and  a  political  record  in  New 
Mexico,  finally  became  a  resident  of  West  Virginia  and 
the  son-in-law  of  her  richest  citizen,  Henry  G.  Davis. 
Together  these  men  worked  West  Virginia.  Although 
one  was  a  Democrat  and  the  other  a  Republican,  there 
was  no  difference  between  them  in  business.  The  rich 
lumber  regions  and  the  richer  coal  regions  became  their 
property.  Elkins,  a  bold  and  strong  personality,  made 
the  Davis  dollars  turn  over  again  and  again. 

So  far  as  the  Republican  campaign  was  concerned  it 
was  simply  a  walk-over.  The  campaign  made  itself. 
Cortelyou  made  a  few  attempts  to  imitate  the  Hanna 
methods,  but  they  were  not  very  successful,  because  a 


Campaign  of  1904 

campaign  was  hardly  necessary.  There  was  ample 
money  for  the  campaign ;  there  would  have  been  plenty 
even  without  the  $250,000  Harriman  fund.  Only  one 
corporation  check  was  sent  back.  That  was  for 
$100,000,  contributed  by  the  Tobacco  Trust.  The 
Government  was  about  to  bring  proceedings  against 
that  trust,  and  the  Administration  did  not  want  to  have 
any  entanglements  through  a  contribution  from  that 
source. 

The  Republican  campaign  was  directed  from  Wash 
ington.  Cortelyou  was  an  excellent  man  to  carry  out 
details.  He  also  had  the  faculty  of  keeping  silent,  as 
well  as  of  denying  statements.  I  had  an  interesting 
experience  with  him.  His  assistant,  Frank  H.  Hitch 
cock,  told  me  one  night  that  the  national  chairman  was 
going  to  make  several  speeches  in  New  York  City 
towards  the  end  of  the  campaign.  Of  course  I  published 
the  story  and  the  next  day  Cortelyou  handed  out  a  little 
typewritten  statement  containing  a  flat  denial. 

A  few  weeks  later  he  made  the  speeches. 

Interest  in  the  Republican  campaign  naturally 
centered  in  New  York  where  both  Presidential  candi 
dates  lived.  Governor  Odell  was  in  charge  of  the  Repub 
lican  party  in  that  state,  and  William  Barnes,  Jr.,  was 
his  lieutenant.  They  were  a  slick  pair  of  political 
workers,  and  they  knew  all  about  the  politics  of  New 
York.  Once  I  asked  Barnes  about  the  situation  and 
he  gave  me  a  stand-off  answer. 

"Albany  county  is  the  only  place  I  know  about 

definitely,"  he  said. 
26 


402        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

"Well,  how  about  Albany  county?"  I  asked. 

"I  can  tell  you  day  after  to-morrow,"  he  replied. 

"Why  then,  and  not  now?"  I  persisted. 

"Well,  to-morrow  is  'dough  day/  and  when  I  know 
how  much  money  I  can  have  for  Albany  county  I  can 
,  tell  what  majority  we  shall  get." 

"Dough  Day"  in  New  York  is  an  institution.  It  is 
the  day  that  the  county  chairmen  and  state  leaders 
assemble  in  Manhattan  and  receive  their  apportion 
ment  of  money  for  their  respective  districts. 

After  the  "dough  day"  distribution  I  again  asked 
Barnes  about  Albany  county. 

"Albany  will  give  a  Republican  majority  of  6,000," 
he  promptly  replied. 

Albany  county  gave  6,200  when  the  votes  were 
counted.  That  was  an  illustration  of  the  practical 
politics  of  the  time. 

The  Democrats  postponed  the  selection  of  a  national 
chairman  until  a  meeting  in  New  York.  Tom  Taggart 
of  Indiana  had  the  pledges  of  enough  members  to  elect 
him,  but  the  friends  of  Parker  wanted  a  different  cam 
paign  manager.  They  explained  that  Taggart  "was  a 
good  fellow  and  all  that,  but  he  had  been,  well,  you 
know — his  methods  had  not  always  been  the  kind 
which  were  approved  by  a  more  substantial  element  in 
the  party." 

So  they  postponed  action  for  a  New  York  meeting 
and  a  consultation  with  the  candidate. 

And  what  an  overflow  meeting  it  proved  to  be.  Not 
only  members  of  the  national  committee,  but  hundreds 


Campaign  of  1904  403 

of  other  Democrats  were  in  attendance.  A  rumor  had 
been  spread  about  that  there  would  be  unlimited  money 
for  the  Democratic  campaign,  which  had  not  been  the 
case  during  the  two  preceding  elections. 

The  story  was  told  to  me  by  a  very  prominent  Demo 
crat,  who  was  thoroughly  incensed  by  the  change  that 
had  occurred  in  a  few  weeks. 

"We  had  been  promised  a  campaign  fund  of  four  mil 
lion  dollars, ' '  he  said.  ' '  The  promise  was  made  through 
Jim  Hill  of  Minnesota,  and  we  understand  it  came  from 
J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  who  was  backed  up  by  big  busi 
ness  men  here  in  New  York  with  whom  he  is  in  close 
relations.  We  were  told,  if  we  would  nominate  a  safe 
and  sane  man  on  a  sane  platform,  that  that  amount  of 
money  and  probably  more  would  be  forthcoming  as 
soon  as  the  convention  was  over. 

"Now,  here  we  are,  and  we  are  told  that  the  arrange 
ment  has  failed.  Morgan  says  he  has  made  his  deal 
with  Roosevelt  and  that  it  is  not  likely  that  Parker  can 
be  elected,  and  they  prefer  Republicans  in  power  any 
way,  if  they  can  get  along  with  them." 

I  knew  the  man  who  was  talking.  He  was  promi 
nent  enough  in  the  party  to  know  what  was  going  on. 
Moreover,  in  addition  to  what  he  said,  there  was  every 
indication  that  a  very  substantial  campaign  fund  was 
expected  to  defeat  Roosevelt,  who  had  alarmed  big 
business  during  the  time  he  had  been  in  the  White 
House. 

The  Democrats  began  operations  just  as  if  they  had 
plenty  of  money.  They  elected  Taggart  chairman,  but 


404        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

they  hedged  him  about  with  an  executive  committee 
which  really  controlled  everything,  and  this  committee 
was  dominated  by  August  Belmont  and  Wm.  F. 
Sheehan. 

Elaborate  headquarters  were  opened,  and  many  of 
the  Democrats  who  went  to  New  York  were  placed  on 
the  pay  roll.  It  was  lively  while  it  lasted,  but  gradu 
ally  gloom  settled  over  everything.  Even  Taggart, 
who  was  known  as  "Chatty  Tom,"  fled,  leaving  Urey 
Woodson  of  Kentucky,  the  secretary  of  the  committee, 
to  make  the  claims  of  success  that  he  knew  were  utterly 
impossible. 

During  the  campaign  Democrats  who  were  speaking 
in  the  northern  states  passed  in  and  out  of  New  York. 
They  brought  in  reports  which  made  the  ever-increasing 
gloom  grow  thicker.  I  remember  the  surprise  which 
Senator  Stone  of  Missouri  gave  me  when  he  said  every 
thing  was  going  wrong.  I  remarked  that  Missouri 
was  safe  for  the  Democrats. 

' ' Far  from  it, ' '  he  replied.  ' '  Far  from  it.  Missouri 
is  not  safe  by  any  means,  and  I  rather  expect  we  shall 
lose  the  state." 

And  I  didn't  know  whether  he  really  meant  it  or  not. 
Cortelyou,  in  a  claim  of  306  electoral  votes,  did  not  in 
clude  Missouri,  and  the  state  was  indeed  a  "mysterious 
stranger,"  when  she  appeared  in  the  Republican  fold 
after  the  election. 

Roosevelt  had  the  support  of  a  large  number  of 
Catholics.  "There  are  forty  per  cent  of  my  people 
that  I  cannot  hold,"  remarked  Charles  F.  Murphy,  the 


Campaign  of  1904  4°5 

Tammany  leader,  to  one  of  his  intimate  personal  friends. 
He  referred  to  the  Catholics  who  were  going  to  vote  for 
Roosevelt,  also  a  tremendous  Jewish  vote  that  was 
usually  for  Tammany. 

Regarding  the  Catholic  vote  I  recall  a  remark  by 
Frank  H.  Hosford,  a  Washington  newspaper  man  con 
nected  with  the  Democratic  headquarters.  He  went 
out  to  make  inquiries  among  the  people  and  found  many 
Democrats  who  were  going  to  support  Roosevelt.  One 
of  these  was  a  policeman  who  was  stationed  near  the 
headquarters. 

"He  told  me,"  said  Frank,  "that  he  was  going  to  vote 
for  Roosevelt  because  Roosevelt  had  done  a  great  deal 
for  the  force  when  he  was  police  commissioner.  But  I 
knew  better.  It  was  the  mitre  of  the  mighty  Church !" 

When  it  was  all  over  and  the  result  was  known, 
Roosevelt  added  the  touch  which  was  the  final  brilliant 
piece  of  fireworks  as  the  curtain  went  down.  In  thank 
ing  the  people  for  their  support,  he  said:  "Under  no 
circumstances  will  I  be  a  candidate  for  or  accept  another 
nomination." 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

MAN  OF  MANY  ANGLES 

Roosevelt  Constantly  in  the  Public  Eye— Finds  Consensus  of  Opinion 
Against  Tariff  Revision— New  States  and  First  Break  with  Foraker 
— Class  Distinctions  at  the  White  House — Race  Suicide — Taft  on 
the  Lid— President  Wins  Peace  Prize— Would  Not  Be  Quoted. 


I 


T  is  rather  interesting  to  trace  the  Republican  de 
mands  for  tariff  revision  to  their  political  sources. 
In  nearly  every  case  tariff  reform  is  to  be  found  foment 
ing  in  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota,  with  assistance 
in  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  I  am  now  referring  to  de 
mands  for  tariff  revision  when  the  Republican  laws  are 
in  operation.  Looking  back  as  far  as  1888  there  was 
the  ' '  Iowa  Idea. ' '  It  broke  out  in  Minnesota  in  a  wave 
for  Gresham  for  President,  and  was  emphasized  in  all 
the  states  by  big  Democratic  sweeps  in  1890  and  1892. 
A  few  years  later  Joseph  W.  Babcock  of  Wisconsin,  a 
Republican,  became  the  champion  of  the  tariff  revision 
idea  in  the  National  Congress.  He  wanted  to  forestall 
the  La  Follette  movement,  which,  among  other  re 
forms,  was  demanding  a  lower  tariff.  In  Iowa  Governor 
Cummins  was  winning  by  degrees  as  a  tariff  revision 
champion. 

Congress  had  no  more  than  assembled  for  its  short 
session  after  the  election  of  1904  than  the  agitation  for 

406 


Man  of  Many  Angles  407 

tariff  revision  was  resumed.  It  was  kept  up  during  the 
winter,  but  few  people  thought  much  about  it  until 
they  heard  that  the  President  was  seriously  considering 
an  extra  session  for  tariff  revision. 

This  caused  consternation  among  the  standpatters. 
Senator  Aldrich,  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee, 
had  already  bought  his  ticket  for  Europe,  intending  to 
sail  when  the  short  session  closed.  The  opposition  that 
developed  to  tariff  revision  caused  Roosevelt  to  have 
a  conference  of  Republican  leaders  at  the  White  House. 
Among  them  were  Allison,  Aldrich,  Platt  of  Connecti 
cut,  Cannon,  Payne,  Dalzell  and  Grosvenor. 

Roosevelt  put  the  question  squarely  up  to  them  as  to 
whether  there  should  be  an  extra  session  for  tariff  re 
vision.  All  hesitated  to  declare  themselves.  Then 
Platt  spoke  up.  He  said  there  was  no  necessity  for 
tariff  revision  and  that  it  would  be  very  bad  policy  to 
have  an  extra  session.  Cannon  in  a  very  few  words 
agreed  with  Platt.  The  others  still  said  nothing. 

"The  consensus  of  opinion,"  said  Roosevelt,  with 
more  than  the  ordinary  facial  expression  which  he  used 
with  much  effect,  "seems  to  be  against  an  extra  session, 
and  there  will  be  none.'* 

John  H.  Mitchell  of  Oregon  and  Joe  Burton  of  Kan 
sas,  both  Senators,  were  caught  violating  an  old  for 
gotten  statute  about  this  time,  and  driven  out  of  public 
life,  Burton  to  jail  and  Mitchell  to  his  death.  By  taking 
fees  to  practice  before  Federal  departments  they  came 
within  the  clutches  of  the  law,  and  very  zealous  district 
attorneys  and  their  assistants,  together  with  scores  of 


408        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

sleuths,  who  began  to  swarm  about  all  departments  in 
those  days,  saw  to  it  that  these  two  men  were  not  given 
even  the  benefit  of  doubt  or  favor.  Mitchell  was  one 
of  the  best  "news  men  "  I  ever  knew  in  the  Senate.  He 
would  get  a  newspaper  man  out  of  bed  at  night  to  give 
him  a  story,  and  more  than  that  he  would  hunt  him  up 
and  tell  him  what  was  going  on  in  the  Senate,  particu 
larly  after  one  of  those  awfully  secretive  sessions. 

Admission  of  new  states  again  became  an  important 
issue  in  Congress.  A  bill  was  introduced  which  pro 
vided  for  joining  Oklahoma  and  Indian  Territory  as  one 
state  and  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  as  another.  The 
majority  of  the  Republicans  were  in  favor  of  the  two- 
state  plan  and  the  bill  was  passed,  but  not  until  after 
Senator  Foraker  had  insisted  on  an  amendment  provid 
ing  that  the  bill  should  not  be  operative  as  to  joining 
the  Territories  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  as  one  state 
unless  the  people  of  each  Territory  by  a  vote  consented 
to  the  union.  This  defeated  the  bill,  for  Arizona  voted 
against  the  union. 

That  act  of  Foraker  was  the  beginning  of  the  differ 
ences  between  the  President  and  the  Ohio  Senator. 
Roosevelt  was  anxious  to  have  the  two-state  bill  passed 
because  it  relieved  him  of  a  troublesome  problem. 
Many  of  his  Rough  Riders  were  in  the  Territories,  and 
they  wanted  the  party  platforms  promising  statehood 
redeemed. 

There  was  one  bright  spot  in  the  statehood  debate. 
That  was  a  speech  by  Senator  Bailey  of  Texas  when  an 
allusion  was  made  to  the  right  of  Texas  to  be  divided 


Man  of  Many  Angles  409 

into  five  states  if  she  should  so  vote.  "Texas,"  he 
said,  concluding  a  brilliant  oration,  "could  apportion 
nearly  everything  to  five  different  states,  but  she  could 
not  divide  the  fadeless  glory  of  those  days  that  have 
passed  and  gone.  To  whom  could  she  bequeath  the 
name  of  Houston,  or  the  inheritance  of  Goliad,  the 
Alamo  or  San  Jacinto,  or  the  deathless  immortality  of 
Fannin,  of  Bowie,  and  of  Crockett!" 

Those  who  heard  or  those  who  may  have  read  that 
speech  never  for  a  moment  can  believe  that  the  day  will 
ever  come  when  Texas  shall  be  divided. 

Hanna,  Quay  and  Hoar,  three  Senators  who  died  in 
1904,  made  real  vacancies  in  the  Senate,  no  matter  what 
ability  their  successors  possessed. 

Of  the  three  Hoar  was  the  least  of  a  politician  and 
the  greatest  statesman.  He  had  been  an  active  parti 
san  in  his  earlier  days,  and  was  frequently  a  delegate  to 
national  conventions.  He  was  a  member  of  the  famous 
Electoral  Commission  in  1877,  which  declared  Hayes 
President. 

In  the  Senate  Hoar  was  a  law  unto  himself.  He  had 
no  regard  for  the  rights  of  others  when  it  came  to  inter 
ruptions  or  interference  with  what  they  were  doing. 
In  his  later  years  he  was  irascible  and  crabbed.  He  did 
not  have  many  friends  in  the  Senate,  but  his  great 
ability  was  recognized  by  his  associates.  He  was  some 
what  childish  at  times,  as  on  one  occasion  when  he  used 
his  influence  to  have  a  street  car  conductor  discharged 
who  had  offered  to  help  him  alight  from  a  car.  Hoar 
resented  the  implication  that  he  was  old  and  feeble. 


From  Harrison  to  Harding 

At  times  he  rose  to  great  heights.  One  notable  occa 
sion  was  when  Senator  Pettigrew  of  South  Dakota 
attacked  New  England.  I  can't  imagine  what  induced 
Pettigrew  to  make  such  a  break,  for  he  was  a  shrewd 
man.  Without  any  apparent  reason  this  man  from  the 
West,  who  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  assailed  New  Eng 
land  in  the  most  vigorous  language.  Perhaps  it  was 
because  New  England  Senators  had  been  criticizing 
western  treatment  of  the  Indians.  Pettigrew  assailed 
the  early  Puritans,  not  only  for  their  treatment  of  the 
Indians,  but  for  burning  witches. 

When  he  concluded  it  appeared  by  unanimous  con 
sent  that  Hoar  should  make  the  reply,  and  he  did  it  in  a 
masterly  manner.  It  was  not  exactly  a  "skinning/* 
but  more  of  a  stinging  rebuke  on  a  high  and  lofty  plane, 
a  scathing  reply  to  an  unprovoked  attack  upon  a  great 
people.  Speaking  of  Indian  outrages  and  witch  burn 
ing,  Hoar  acknowledged  that  they  occurred.  "It  was  a 
cruel  and  inhuman  thing  to  do,"  he  said,  "but  we  must 
remember  that  these  things  occurred  two  hundred  years 
ago  and  recollect  the  rapid  strides  towards  a  greater 
civilization  since  that  time."  His  tribute  to  New  Eng 
land,  the  men  she  had  produced,  and  what  she  has  done 
for  the  country,  was  one  of  those  sublime — almost  in 
spired — utterances  which  leave  a  lasting  impression  on 
the  mind. 

Senator  Hoar  never  could  reconcile  himself  to  expan 
sion.  Like  Thomas  B.  Reed,  he  believed  the  acquisi 
tion  of  Hawaii  and  the  Philippines  was  a  mistake  which 
would  plague  the  country  for  generations.  He,  like 


Man  of  Many  Angles  411 

Reed,  was  strong  enough  to  stand  out  against  the 
majority  of  his  party. 

He  was  a  man  of  ability  and  learning,  and  in  spite  of 
his  irascibility,  his  abrupt  manners,  his  domineering 
attitude  and  methods,  one  of  the  great  men  of  his  time. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  was  born  a  patrician ;  he  acquired 
his  democracy  by  a  desire  to  do  something  for  the 
people.  But  his  natural  affiliation  for  people  of  his 
own  class  was  revealed  at  official  and  semi-official 
functions  during  his  Administration,  and  in  his  social 
intimacies.  At  the  White  House  receptions,  to  which, 
as  always,  thousands  of  invitations  were  issued,  certain 
marked  distinctions  were  apparent.  Heavy  silk  cords 
were  stretched  across  the  doors  of  the  smaller  reception 
rooms,  at  each  of  which  a  man  in  uniform  stood  guard, 
and  only  special  guests  were  permitted  to  enter.  These 
included  the  diplomats,  higher  government  officials, 
ranking  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  persons  of  wealth 
or  prominence  in  the  financial  and  social  world,  or  of 
special  attainments  in  other  fields.  The  lesser  lights 
were  passed  into  the  East  Room,  whence  they  might 
wander  down  the  long  corridor,  and  gaze  through  the 
doorways  at  the  especially  honored.  This  division  of 
the  guests  caused  a  good  deal  of  resentment  and  some 
amusement.  It  undoubtedly  made  the  White  House 
receptions  more  exclusive  in  effect,  but  it  also  made  the 
general  assembly  far  less  brilliant. 

Another  innovation  was  the  detailing  of  military 
aides  to  the  Chief  Magistrate.  Wherever  the  President 
appeared  at  official  or  social  functions,  or  at  the  theatre, 


From  Harrison  to  Harding 

he  was  closely  attended  by  two  or  more  officers  of 
the  army,  navy,  or  marine  corps  in  uniform.  At  this 
time,  too,  the  Mayflower  was  refitted  and  converted  to 
the  President's  use  as  his  official  yacht. 

The  elevation  of  Roosevelt  to  the  Presidency,  more 
over,  attracted  to  the  Capital  many  very  rich  New 
Yorkers,  whose  elaborate  and  ostentatious  scale  of 
living  completely  transformed  Washington  society. 
An  effort  was  made,  with  some  measure  of  success,  to 
establish  certain  features  of  Court  etiquette;  for  ex 
ample,  that  an  invitation  to  the  White  House  was  a 
command;  and  altogether,  entertainments  both  in  and 
out  of  the  White  House  took  on  a  spectacular  formality 
that  departed  radically  from  the  traditional  simplicity 
of  former  years. 

Most  of  the  innovations  of  the  Roosevelt  adminis 
tration  were  retained  by  his  successors,  though  there 
has  been  a  gradual  tendency  to  return  to  the  less  pre 
tentious  forms  of  previous  administrations. 

During  the  McKinley  administration  a  popular 
White  House  custom  was  discontinued.  This  was  the 
semi-weekly  reception  to  the  general  public  in  the  East 
Room.  Visitors  to  the  National  Capital  knew  that 
twice  each  week  all  who  desired  could  present  them 
selves  at  the  White  House  and,  passing  in  line,  shake 
hands  with  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  nation.  Harri 
son  and  Cleveland,  cold  and  austere  as  they  were  re 
garded,  went  through  the  formality  with  becoming 
dignity,  affording  much  pleasure  to  strangers  in  the 
Capital  City.  McKinley  continued  the  custom  until 


Man  of  Many  Angles  413 

the  Spanish  war,  and  then  excused  himself  on  account 
of  a  pressure  of  business.  The  custom  was  not  revived 
under  President  Roosevelt  and  his  successors.  By 
special  arrangement  large  delegations  and  groups  of 
visitors  sometimes  have  an  opportunity  to  see  and 
shake  hands  with  the  President,  but  no  one  is  ever  sure 
of  that  privilege,  and  even  after  arrangements  are  made 
they  may  be  canceled. 

The  democratic  side  of  President  Roosevelt  was 
shown  by  his  interest  in  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men. 
He  might  entertain  a  financier,  a  scientist,  or  an  ecclesi 
astic  one  day,  and  the  next  a  guide  from  the  Maine 
woods  or  a  cowboy  from  the  western  plains  would  be  his 
guest.  He  delighted  in  men  who  did  things,  the  men  of 
uerve  who  performed  what  he  called  a  great  service. 
He  always  went  forward  and  shook  hands  with  the 
engineer  and  the  fireman  of  a  train  after  a  ride  on  a 
railroad,  because  these  men  every  day  were  responsible 
for  many  lives. 

About  this  time  Roosevelt  put  forth  his  ideas  upon 
race  suicide  in  no  uncertain  terms  and  arraigned  the 
men  and  women  who  shirked  parenthood.  It  was  not 
long  after  that  I  learned  his  point  of  view  on  the  subject 
by  asking  him : 

"Have  you  any  sympathy,  any  feeling  whatever,  for 
the  great  middle-class  of  humanity?" 

"How  can  you  ask  me?"  he  inquired  rather  indig 
nantly,  by  way  of  reply.  "What  does  such  a  question 
mean?" 

"Because  you  have  a  taste  for  the  aristocratic,  for 


4J4        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

wealth  and  position ,  which  you  gratify .  Then  there  is  the 
taste  or  fancy  which  you  show  for  Bill  Jones  the  guide, 
Bat  Smith  the  former  bad  man,  and  those  of  a  more 
lowly  and  less  virile  though  picturesque  type.  But 
there  is  a  great  middle-class  living  on  incomes  of  from 
$1,500  to  $5,000  a  year  whom  you  do  not  take  into 
account.  They  must  give  their  children  advantages; 
they  must  maintain  a  level  not  far  below  that  of  the 
richer  class  with  whom  they  come  in  contact.  With 
your  race  suicide  and  big  family  ideas  these  people 
cannot  keep  afloat/' 

It  was  the  longest  speech  I  ever  heard  President  Roose 
velt  listen  to  in  conversation,  and  then  he  gave  me  what 
was  his  real  idea  about  race  suicide. 

"If  every  married  couple  does  not  have  two  children 
the  race  will  run  out,"  he  said.  "They  can  raise  three 
with  but  little  more  expense  than  two.  And  it  is  their 
duty  to  maintain  the  American  race.'* 

In  the  course  of  further  conversation  when  it  was 
shown  that  never  in  his  life  had  he  been  deprived  of  any 
comfort  for  himself  or  any  member  of  his  family, 
that  he  never  had  known  what  it  meant  to  want,  but 
to  be  unable  to  provide,  those  things  which  make  for 
the  health  and  happiness  of  loved  ones,  I  then  under 
stood  that  there  was  a  gulf  between  Theodore  Roose 
velt  and  the  vast  majority  of  the  people  of  the  world. 
The  man  who  has  never  longed  for  something  beyond 
the  reach  of  his  purse  cannot  fully  understand  the 
handicap  of  those  whose  condition  is  less  fortunate. 
Roosevelt  understood  better  than  most  men  who  have 


Man  of  Many  Angles  415 

been  spared  the  necessity  of  earning  a  living,  but  he 
never  quite  realized  the  trials  of  those  who  have  to 
struggle  to  maintain  their  families,  and  who  can  ill 
afford  to  increase  their  responsibilities. 

Long  in  advance  of  the  national  convention  of  1908, 
Roosevelt  was  considering  different  men  as  possible 
candidates  for  the  nomination,  and  it  was  believed 
that  he  looked  with  favor  upon  his  Secretary  of 
War.  On  March  17,  1905,  John  R.  Thayer, 
a  Democratic  Congressman  from  Massachusetts, 
said  that  Roosevelt  had  picked  Taft  for  the  Presi 
dential  succession.  And  yet  many  times  Taft  was  un 
decided,  particularly  when  there  was  a  vacancy  on  the 
Supreme  Court  bench.  If  the  Chief  Justice  had  died 
or  retired,  Taft  might  have  chosen  that  office  instead  of 
the  Presidency.  While  Taft  was  in  his  indecisive  mood 
Chief  Justice  Fuller  gave  a  dinner  to  the  President  and 
a  number  of  prominent  officials.  As  the  guests  passed 
out  of  the  dining  room  into  the  library,  the  President 
paused  before  a  newly  painted  and  youngish  looking 
portrait  of  the  Chief  Justice,  and  exclaimed  in  a  voice 
heard  by  everybody : 

"Here,  Will,  look  at  this.  Judging  by  appearances 
it  looks  as  if  you  might  have  to  wait  a  long  time." 

Secretary  Taft  was  very  much  before  the  public  dur 
ing  the  year  1905.  On  one  of  Roosevelt's  many  trips 
he  said  that  he  had  "left  Taft  sitting  on  the  lid."  As 
the  Secretary  weighed  nearly  300  pounds  at  that  time 
the  President's  quip  caused  many  jesting  comments. 
Not  only  was  Taft  frequently  left  "sitting 


4i 6        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

on  the  lid,"  but  he  made  the  famous  trip  to  the 
Philippines  with  a  large  number  of  Senators  and  Con 
gressmen.  He  felt  called  upon  to  deny  that  the  trip 
was  a  junket,  for  so  it  was  generally  considered  by  the 
newspapers.  He  also  was  compelled  to  deny  a  state 
ment  that  he  was  a  candidate  for  President,  and  was 
campaigning  for  the  nomination. 

The  feature  of  the  Philippine  trip  which  is  most 
generally  remembered  is  that  the  President's  daughter, 
Miss  Alice  Roosevelt,  and  Hon.  Nicholas  Longworth 
became  engaged  to  be  married  during  its  progress. 
Congressman  Swagar  Sherley  of  Kentucky  and  Con 
gressman  W.  Bourke  Cockran,  members  of  the  party, 
also  became  engaged  to  young  women  who  were 
among  the  guests.  Taft  was  often  called  Cupid's 
agent  on  account  of  these  three  matrimonial  results 
of  the  trip. 

Miss  Roosevelt  was  received  everywhere  in  the  Orient 
as  a  princess  of  a  royal  family.  It  was  then  that  she 
acquired  the  title,  "Princess  Alice." 

In  the  summer  of  1905  President  Roosevelt  became  a 
peacemaker.  He  brought  Russia  and  Japan  together 
when  they  seemed  tired  of  war,  or  exhausted  financially, 
and  by  dint  of  earnest  persuasion  brought  about  the 
peace  of  Portsmouth,  for  which  he  was  awarded  the 
Nobel  peace  prize,  as  the  greatest  peacemaker  of  the 
world. 

The  attitude  of  the  American  people  during  that  war 
seems  remarkable.  Apparently  the  sympathies  of  this 
nation  were  with  Japan.  The  attitude  of  the  Govern- 


Man  of  Many  Angles  417 

ment  is  accounted  for  by  the  influence  of  Secretary  Hay. 
Great  Britain  was  Japan's  ally  and  Hay  was  inclined  to 
England.  Besides,  his  relations  with  Count  Cassini, 
the  Russian  Ambassador  to  this  country,  were  such  as  to 
cause  him  to  have  a  deep  feeling  against  everything 
Russian. 

As  to  the  country  as  a  whole  it  seems  rather  strange 
that  the  prejudice  should  have  been  against  Russia 
and  in  favor  of  Japan.  Russia  had  been  our  only 
foreign  friend  in  the  most  perilous  time  of  our  history. 
Japan,  even  in  1905,  was  a  menace  to  our  commerce 
and  power  in  the  Pacific.  But  the  treatment  of  the 
Jews  in  Russia  explains  the  attitude  of  our  people. 
Jewish  influence  was  strong  enough  to  sway  the  voice  of 
the  nation  in  favor  of  the  Japanese. 

John  Hay  did  not  live  long  enough  to  see  the  con 
summation  of  the  peace  proposals.  A  short  time  be 
fore  he  left  Washington  for  the  last  time  a  newspaper 
man  inquired  about  his  health. 

"I  am  not  well,"  he  replied,  "I  am  suffering  from  an 
incurable  disease." 

"What  is  it,  Mr.  Secretary?"  anxiously  inquired  the 
newspaper  man. 

"Old  age,"  replied  Mr.  Hay. 

He  would  have  his  grim  joke,  even  when  the  hand  of 
death  was  upon  him. 

Elihu  Root  came  back  into  public  life  as  Secretary 
of  State,  a  position  in  which  he  had  the  opportunity  to 
add  luster  to  the  nation  he  served  so  well. 

On  account  of  his  many  speeches  on  the  subject  there 


TOL.  I — 27 


4i  8        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

was  no  doubt  that  President  Roosevelt  intended  to 
insist  upon  railroad  rate  legislation.  With  a  view  of 
preventing  any  such  legislation,  the  Senate  Interstate 
Commerce  Committee  held  protracted  hearings  during 
the  summer  of  1905,  and  amassed  volumes  of  testimony 
to  show  that  there  was  no  necessity  for  further  rate  regu 
lation,  and  that  Congress  could  not  delegate  the  power 
to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  to  fix  rates. 

All  the  railroad  managers  of  the  country  appeared 
and  told  the  committee  the  railroad  situation.  Ship 
pers  were  also  heard.  One  interesting  witness  was 
Governor  Cummins  of  Iowa.  Another  was  James  J.  Hill, 
the  empire  builder  of  the  Northwest.  Hill  told  the 
committee  that  the  Panama  Canal  would  never  be  a 
serious  competitor  of  the  railroads,  even  in  trans- 
Pacific  traffic,  because  we  were  at  the  beginning  of  an 
age  when  time  would  be  a  most  essential  feature  of  com 
merce,  and  that  fast  freights  across  the  continent  to 
the  North  Pacific  ports  would  reach  the  Orient  far  in 
advance  of  the  steamers  by  way  of  Panama. 

The  year  of  1905  is  remembered  as  one  of  Presidential 
denunciations.  Mr.  Roosevelt  never  hesitated  to  de 
nounce  certain  people  collectively,  but  in  later  years 
he  denounced  people  individually,  and  the  victim  of 
such  a  denunciation  was  usually  discredited  in  the 
country.  Herbert  Bowen,  who  had  been  Minister  to 
Venezuela,  Chief  Engineer  Wallace  of  the  Panama 
Canal  Commission,  and  a  man  named  Holmes  in  the 
Agricultural  Department,  were  among  those  who 
felt  the  Presidential  displeasure  at  that  time. 


Man  of  Many  Angles  419 

Another  was  Henry  M.  Whitney  of  Massachusetts. 
Whitney  went  to  see  the  President  and  then  went  forth 
and  told  what  the  President  had  said  in  regard  to  the 
tariff.  Whitney  was  denounced  as  a  man  unworthy  of 
confidence  and  respect. 

"I  will  not  permit  any  man  to  go  from  the  White 
House  and  say  that  I  have  said  this  or  that,"  Mr. 
Roosevelt  once  explained  to  me.  "I  see  hundreds  of 
men  each  day,  and  they  say  many  things  to  me,  and  I 
make  many  references.  There  can  be  no  conclusion 
as  to  a  policy  or  probable  action  of  the  Administration 
in  such  conversation,  and  no  man  should  feel  free  to  go 
forth  and  quote  his  construction  of  a  chance  remark,  or 
what  he  thinks  I  said.  What  I  have  to  say  to  the  public 
will  be  in  public  speeches,  messages  to  Congress,  or 
proclamations.  No  man  can  become  my  mouthpiece. 
I  reserve  the  right  to  deny  any  statement  attributed  to 
me  in  these  personal  conversations." 

The  men  who  knew  Roosevelt  best  never  presumed 
to  quote  him  or  give  him  as  authority  for  any  statement. 
No  man  knew  better  than  Roosevelt  that  public  opinion 
was  somewhat  fickle  and  that  the  people  could  change. 

For  a  number  of  years  after  he  became  President 
certain  theoretical  people  used  to  go  to  Roosevelt 
and  outline  very  plausible  propositions  relating  to 
government  affairs.  They  would  urge  him  to  incor 
porate  their  theories  in  his  message  to  Congress. 

"I'll  do  it;  that  is  a  splendid  idea,"  he  would  say. 

A  few  weeks  after,  in  outlining  his  message  to  practi 
cal  members  of  his  Cabinet  or  chairmen  of  committees 


420        From  Harrison  to  Harding 

in  Congress,  he  would  be  told  that  the  suggestions  were 
not  feasible.  Upon  further  explanation  he  would  see 
that  he  had  been  the  victim  of  theorists  and  would  make 
no  mention  of  their  projects.  Those  who  had  told 
friends  that  the  President  would  make  certain  recom 
mendations  were  placed  in  an  awkward  position.  If 
their  statements  had  become  public  they  were  much 
embarrassed. 

There  is  this  much  to  say  regarding  the  truthfulness 
of  public  officials — for  I  am  coming  to  the  formation  of 
the  celebrated  "Ananias  Club"  very  soon — and  that  is, 
that  officials  are  often  placed  in  the  embarrassing  posi 
tion  in  which  the  straight  truth  cannot  be  told,  and 
evasive  answers,  or  refusal  to  answer,  will  not  meet  the 
purpose.  After  many  years  of  experience  I  can  say  that 
there  are  mighty  few  public  men  who  will  not  avail 
themselves  of  denials,  evasions,  and  deliberate  mis- 
statements,  when  the  test  comes  and  the  affairs  of 
state  make  it  imperative  that  they  take  a  course  which 
may  for  the  moment  crush  truth  to  the  earth. 


END   OF  VOLUME  I 


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